TIRANA, Albania, Oct 8, (AP): Opposition forces in Albania on Monday were holding a nationwide protest in the country's capital demanding that the government be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before next year’s parliamentary election. The conservative opposition accuses the leftist government of manipulating earlier voting and of usurping powers, including that of the judiciary.

The Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been holding protests at the parliament in the last week after one of their colleagues was convicted of slander and imprisoned, which they considered as being politically motivated. Ervin Salianji in 2018 demanded the resignation of the then interior minister over allegations of his brother’s illegal activity that later proved to be fabricated.

Salianji, who began serving a one-year sentence more than a week ago, has appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. The Democrats are asking for a Cabinet made up of technocrats, blaming Prime Minister Edi Rama of the governing leftist Socialist Party of manipulating earlier voting. They have long accused Rama’s Socialists of usurping power, including the judiciary, and have staged violent protests against the government since 2013.

The Democrats also call for Berisha’s release from house arrest which he was put under during an investigation of alleged corruption. The opposition has called for civil disobedience, starting the protest with a gathering in front of the main government building, where there will be no speeches, and then extending it by blocking traffic at Tirana’s main intersections. A vehicle tire was burned in front of the presidential office, not far from the main government offices.