Albania's opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet

TIRANA, Albania — Albanian opposition activists blocked major roads for several hours Tuesday in a nationwide rally demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before the 2025 parliamentary election.

Lawmakers led hundreds of opposition supporters in rallies that blocked traffic at a main highway into the capital, Tirana, and at five other major roads around the country.

“Civil blockade, today or never!" was the motto of the protest on the website of the main opposition Democratic Party. In Tirana, opposition lawmakers parked their cars to block traffic for three hours. In other places, opposition supporters staged sit-ins at the roadside or burned tires.

The conservative Democrats led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have long accused Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialists of corruption, manipulating earlier elections and usurping the powers of the judiciary.

Thousands of police were deployed to protect government buildings, traffic and the rule of law, and there were sporadic clashes between officers and activists before the rallies ended in the late evening.

The opposition activists lifted their blockades when their leaders pledged to take unspecified anti-government action later.

Democrats and their supporters in an opposition coalition have been holding protests over the arrests of Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. Another Democratic lawmaker, Ervin Salianji, has also been convicted of slander and imprisoned.

The Democrats have staged violent protests against the government since 2013, when they left power.

Albania holds parliamentary elections next spring, which Rama's Socialists are poised to win, partly because the opposition is divided.

The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence won’t help the country integrate into the 27-nation EU bloc.

In 2020, the EU decided to launch full membership negotiations with Albania. Earlier in October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on how the country aligns with EU stances on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption.