Albanian opposition organizes new anti-government protest

TIRANA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Some 3,000 opposition protestors gathered in a new anti-government demonstration in front of Albania's Parliament on Thursday, calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama's step-down.

The protestors led by the main opposition Democratic Party, gathered around 10:00 a.m. local time when the lawmakers started the scheduled plenary session.

The protestors threw firecrackers and projectiles at the beginning of the protest and later on tried to break the police line positioned at the entrance of the parliament, but the police did not intervene.

Chanting "Rama go", protestors accused the Socialist government of being corrupt and relating to organized crime.

After protesting for four hours in front of the parliament building, the protestors moved to Tirana police station following the detention of 14 protesters.

In a reaction in the social network Twitter, Albanian Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj invited the citizens to support the state police in the war against crime.

"Blind protests targeting lawmakers, institutions and police forces prevent the police from the fight against crime," Leshaj tweeted.

For a month now, the country has been going through a political crisis with the opposition parties holding several anti-government protests involving violence, and asking Rama and his cabinet to step down for early elections.

Lawmakers of Albanian opposition have resigned from their posts and refused the calls of the European Union (EU) and international organizations to hold talks with the government and end the political crisis.

Earlier Rama said he is ready to reach a dialogue with the opposition, but does not intend to resign.