Several thousand demonstrators gathered in Tirana on Saturday at the call of the opposition to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, whom they accuse of corruption and hold responsible for the worsening of poverty in Albania.
The opposition also accuses Edi Rama of having "
secret ties
" with a former FBI official, the US federal police, whom it suspects of having influenced the State Department to declare him persona non grata to the States United opposition leader Sali Berisha, former president and prime minister.
"
Edi Rama has committed a hostile act by bribing a former FBI official in order to eliminate the opposition
," Mr Berisha told the crowd who chanted "
Rama, go away
".
Charles McGonigal, a former top FBI official, was arrested in January in the United States for his murky ties to foreign actors.
According to the indictment, he hid $225,000 in cash he received from a former Albanian secret service agent and "
maintained relations with the Prime Minister of Albania
."
The opposition says Mr. Rama used the former FBI official and funded “
political lobbying
” targeting Mr. Berisha to weaken the opposition.
Mr. Berisha, the first democratically elected president of Albania after the fall of the communist regime, was banned from entering the United States in 2021 for "
acts of corruption during his time as prime minister
".
Mr Rama dismissed the opposition's accusations as slander and said the prosecution of Charles McGonigal "
had nothing to do
" with him or the Albanian government.
Read alsoAlbania: two dead in floods
Around 1,000 police had been deployed to maintain order during the demonstration organized by Mr. Berisha's Democratic Party as well as the party of former President Ilir Meta, a former ally of Mr. Rama, who joined forces to overthrow the current Prime Minister.
The opposition also accuses Mr. Rama of having plunged Albania into poverty and caused a massive emigration of Albanians.