TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian police clashed with opposition supporters who tried to force their way into parliament to disrupt a vote on the appointment of an interim prosecutor general Monday.
Around 3,000 demonstrators, holding EU and U.S. flags and shouting anti-government slogans, gathered outside parliament to condemn the selection of a temporary prosecutor general which they say is unconstitutional.
Riot police pushed back the protesters after they broke through a first security cordon outside parliament. The demonstrators threw smoke bombs toward officers. Local media reported that several people have been injured.
Opposition lawmakers also threw smoke bombs inside parliament, but governing legislators managed to hold the vote and elect Arta Marku as acting chief prosecutor with 69 votes from the ruling Socialist party. Two lawmakers voted against the appointment and two others abstained, while the opposition boycotted the vote.
An interim prosecutor general is supported by the European Union and the U.S., which have helped Albania draft judicial reforms. The reforms, needed for the country's bid to launch EU membership negotiations, have already started but a permanent commission to appoint a prosecutor general hasn't been created yet.
Albania, a NATO member since 2009, was granted EU candidate status in 2014 and hopes to launch negotiations next year.
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