Opposition Albanians Call on Speaker to Quit

Several thousand supporters of Albania's opposition centre-right Democratic Party showed their strength in Tirana on Thursday at a rally demanding the resignation of the speaker of parliament, Ilir Meta.

Tom Doshi, a former Socialist Party MP, has caused ructions by claiming that Meta paid an assassin to have him and one other MP killed.

"There can be no order and security when the government rules alongside crime. In Albania, crime had never had stronger links with government than it does now," Lulzim Basha, head of the Democratic Party and Mayor of Tirana, said at the rally.

"The speaker is accused of ordering the assassination of two MPs. This accusation comes from a person within [Prime Minister] Edi Rama's and Ilir Meta's circles, one who till yesterday was one of their best friends," Basha added.

The rally held near the Prime Minister office lasted for about an hour. Police upped the usual security measures, fearing violence, but no incidents were registered.

A few dozen supporters of the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, the party that Meta leads, showed their support for their leader near their own party headquarters.

Doshi claimed last week that Meta offered an assassin 600,000 euros for his head and that of another MP, Mhill Fufi, from the Democratic Party.

Meta and Prime Minister Rama dismiss the plot against Doshi's life as a baseless tale, invented by Doshi. The Socialist Party parliamentary group has since expelled Doshi.

Meta has refused to resign, prompting the Democratic Party to boycott some parliamentary proceedings, claiming its MPs do not feel safe in the parliament.