Albanian Police Injured in Attack on Election Centre

Albania opposition supporters protesting against Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana on June 21 2019. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN

The attack occurred on Thursday evening when about 200 people assembled at the election centre of the Municipality of Vau i Dejws, an opposition Democratic Party stronghold.

Police said the crowd used Molotov bombs and burned material that should have been used on Sunday in controversial elections that the opposition has vowed to boycott. Three police officers were injured.

Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama condemned the attack as a "desperate move" by the opposition to stop the local elections.

"The attack is a foul demonstration of the desperation of L. Basha, M. Kryemadhi, I.Meta and S. Berisha," he wrote on Twitter, naming opposition leaders and President Ilir Meta as responsible for the violence.

Among the 14 arrested were several employees of the municipality, including a deputy mayor. However, the Democratic Party has sought to distance itself from the incident and called on its supporters "to not fall prey to provocations".

"The Democratic Party condemns the criminal scenario of Edi Rama which aims to incriminate the opposition for the violence that he [Rama] has planned," it said in a press release.

The opposition also noted the presence of Tom Doshi, a controversial figure, in the election efforts of the Socialist Party, as highlighting the alleged collaboration between Rama and organised crime networks.

Doshi was blacklisted by the US Department of State last year for "significant corruption", but was photographed last week in the entourage of Rama at electoral meetings.

"The nomination of Tom Doshi as political chief-of-staff for Shkodra [in northern Albania] by Edi Rama is telling...