PM says protests are part of democratic life

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a televised interview that recent protests in Tirana were part of democratic life, not a show of strength.

Rama said he would respect what he called his contract with voters after the last election.

He said the Socialist Party’s majority did not prevent others from expressing a different view.

“Protests are part of democratic life in a free country,” Rama said. “They are not measured by numbers, but by their aims, cause and demands.”

Rama also denied that a Socialist Party anniversary event, planned at the same time as a protest, was a provocation.

He said the date marked the party’s founding and had been planned months earlier.