Berisha after clash with students: PD keeps backing protest, a group of left-wing extremists won’t dictate our stance

Democratic Party (PD) leader Sali Berisha said on Sunday that the opposition will keep backing the student protest unconditionally, a day after Democratic lawmakers were not allowed to join the rally outside the Education Ministry. According to Top Channel, students and PD activists clashed on Saturday.

“I guarantee that this support will continue at any cost and without any hesitation,” Berisha said in an online exchange with citizens, according to ATSH.

“PD symbols would divide the protest”

Berisha explained why Democrats do not appear with party symbols. “A protest with the symbols of the Democratic Party would divide this great protest,” he said, adding that PD has never claimed to lead the student protest but has been there from the first hour through its youth structures in universities and high schools.

He called the groups that opposed PD’s participation, including those chanting “Sold-out opposition,” provocateurs and left-wing extremists, and said “two or three” provocateurs, who he claimed are paid, cannot dictate the party’s stance. Berisha added that PD is ready to work with any political force or civic organization seeking to remove Edi Rama from power.

Stresi quits the protest

After the clash, rapper Stresi announced on Instagram that he is leaving the protest. In his message he wrote that the protesters do not really want to topple Rama and that bringing down the government would take an uprising.