TIRANA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Albanian opposition parties' rally held in the capital Tirana on Saturday evening turned violent when the supporters clashed with police in front of the prime minister's office and the parliament building.
Albanian opposition parties urged supporters to join the protest, asking Prime Minister Edi Rama and his cabinet to resign and early parliamentary elections to be held.
Thousands of opposition supporters from around Albania gathered around 6:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) in Tirana's main Martyrs of the Nation boulevard in front of the prime minister's office, holding anti-government posters and slogans, and throwing firecrackers and other projectiles at police forces.
The protesters broke through the police cordon at the main entrance of the government building while the main opposition Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha was delivering a speech.
"We have surrounded this government. The country has an emergency need for political rotation and we will not make any compromise again," said Basha.
The protesters led by Basha later moved to the parliament building and tried to enter the parliament headquarters. The police forces fired tear gas to repel the protesters.
"Protest must continue to be peaceful and confrontations must be avoided," said Albanian President Ilir Meta, calling for a peaceful protest as the protest was escalating.
"Even today, blind violence is affecting constitutional institutions and the Albanian State Police. Police officers were wounded and this is a shame and a violation of the law," tweeted Albanian Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj.
In reaction to the violent protest, Rama expressed on Twitter his solidarity with police officers.
"Solidarity with every police officer who in a day like this has to face the physical exaggeration of a desperate, headless, unmanaged politics without a future. Regret for police officers injured by the blows of the two dazzling parties marching into the road of self-destruction," said Rama.
More than 1,500 police officers have been engaged to maintain order during the opposition's protest. The police surrounded the prime minister's office by iron fences, while the surrounding perimeter is monitored with security cameras.
This is the ninth protest organized by the Albanian opposition parties, who said that the current government is corrupt and linked to organized crime.
The opposition lawmakers have resigned from their parliament seats in late February and have refused the calls of the European Union and international organizations to hold dialogue with the government and end the political crisis.
