Albanian MPs set off flares to disrupt parliament budget vote

Albanian opposition lawmakers disrupted the parliament’s session on Monday 20 November, to protest against what they say is increasingly authoritarian rule by the governing Socialists.

Democratic lawmakers lit flares and piled chairs on top of each other in the middle of the hall the minute prime minister Edi Rama took his seat to vote on next year’s budget.

A cordon of bodyguards stopped opposition lawmakers from getting near the seats of the cabinet.

The left-wing Socialists, who hold 73 seats in the 140-seat Parliament, made a quick vote in principle and closed the session in 5 minutes.