Albania Opposition Calls Protest to Oust Government

Opposition leader Edi Rama has called for a massive protest to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, as the minister at the centre of a corruption scandal announces his resignation.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

“On January 21 those who want to be saved should rise up,” Rama said during a speech of the general assembly of the Socialist Party on Friday. “Berisha and his deputy, every additional day that they put off their resignation and early elections, they only further damage their position before the people,” Rama added.

The call for a mass protest on January 21 comes after the publication of a video allegedly showing deputy prime minister Ilir Meta and former minister of economy Dritan Prifti discussing corrupt deals.

The transcripts of the videotape, the authenticity of which has not been verified, allegedly show Meta asking the former minister of economy Dritan Prifti to intervene over a hydropower plant concession tender, naming an alleged recompense by a businessman of a seven per cent stake and €700,000 bribe.

In a press conference on Friday, Meta, who also serves as minister of economy, denied any wrongdoing and announced his resignation.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha called the tape a fabrication orchestrated by opposition leader Edi Rama and added that the government “would not collapse over [spying] bugs.”