Albania breathed a sigh of relief at the weekend after an opposition rally that some officials predicted could turn violent ended without incident. The rally was headed by Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama and the families of three victims who died on January 21 when an opposition demonstration descended into chaos.
Friday's demonstrators traversed Tirana’s Heroes of the Nation Boulevard, halting to lay flowers where the three were shot in front of Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s office. The government and police had earlier warned that the march could turn violent but no incidents occurred. Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded government offices, while Republican Guard soldiers armed with AK-47s kept watch inside the front courtyard and on the roof.
Protesters laid flowers in front of posters of the victims, who were killed when the Republican Guard opened fire to disperse violent protesters pelting them with stones. Prime Minister Berisha has since denounced the January 21 rally as an attempted coup d’état which, apart from Rama, allegedly included the general prosecutor, the president and the security services. Berisha’s ruling Democratic Party and the Socialist opposition, headed by Rama, have been locked in a power struggle over the results of the June 2009 general elections. The Socialists say that Berisha "stole" the election through voter fraud. The Democrats have rejected the accusations, maintaining that the polls were the best the country has ever held.
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