Tempers boiled over inside the Albanian Parliament on Thursday, with the chaos in the chamber mirroring the unrest unfolding on the streets outside.
According to the Cyprus-based outlet Politis, lawmakers from the ruling Socialist Party came to blows with colleagues from the opposition Democratic Party. A 53-second clip posted to the social media platform X captured the scene, which began with a two-handed shove and was quickly followed by a green voting card being thrown. Other members then moved in to pull the combatants apart.
Politis reported that the fight started when Democratic MP Flamur Noka tried to seize voting cards from his Socialist colleagues.
As the video shows, Democratic MP Fidel Kreka then shoved Socialist MP Ervin Hoxha. The two went at each other until colleagues and members of the parliamentary guard stepped in to separate them.
The Kreka-Hoxha altercation capped a heated session that had already seen Democrats block the parliamentary podium, preventing the Socialists from carrying out their normal business.
Protests Spill Into the Capital
Outside, in Tirana, Albania’s capital, anti-government demonstrations have turned violent and continued for more than a week.
The Associated Press reported that on Tuesday, police fired tear gas and deployed water cannons against demonstrators, among them high school and university students calling for lower tuition and sweeping education reform.
The student movement has reportedly merged with a wider anti-government campaign demanding that Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama step down.
Voices From the Movement
“In the morning, you try to coordinate with all the groups — where they are, and where the protest is taking place,” said Sidorela Vatnikaj, a 27-year-old master’s student and activist, according to the BBC. “If any lawyers are needed, if any first aid kit or any kind of equipment is needed. And you also have to make sure all your friends, your family members in the protest are OK.”
Vatnikaj pointed to Rama’s lengthy time in office, which spans 13 years, and to what she sees as his government’s indifference to ordinary citizens’ hardships.
“I have seen my mother and father’s generation, working all their lives and dreaming of having a democratic society where they could live with dignity. That never happened.”
Vatnikaj stopped short of endorsing the throwing of rocks and other dangerous objects at police. She also declined to condemn fellow protesters who say they have been ignored and mistreated by the state.
Rama, for his part, vowed that his government would not give in to violent demonstrators.
“A wave of stones, an attempt to overthrow the government and change those in power through the imposition of violence — something that will never be allowed to happen, in any form or for any reason.”
The prime minister made the remarks on Tuesday, according to the AP.
Albania is one of several European countries that have seen large protests in recent weeks.
