Albanian PM Berisha defiant after three die in clashes
LONDON. January 22. KAZINFORM Prime Minister Sali Berisha of Albania has said there will be no Tunisia-style uprising in his country after three people died in clashes on Friday.
"No one can seize power by violent means in this country," he said.
Thousands of protesters demanding his government's resignation were confronted by riot police in the capital Tirana.
An opposition leader said the crowd had been provoked and police had behaved unprofessionally.
Albania - one of Europe's poorest countries - s not due to hold its next general election until 2013.
But political tensions grew last week after Ilir Meta, a key ally of the prime minister, resigned after being accused of corruption over a power plant tender.
The opposition wants a fresh general election after rejecting the result of the June 2009 vote, which Mr Berisha's Democratic Party won by a small margin.
The ex-communist state's hopes of joining the EU have been thwarted as it struggles to prove it has made the transition to a fully functioning democracy.
Brussels rejected Albania's application for candidate status late last year, urging it to meet an agenda of 12 points, in particular fighting corruption, Kazinform refers to BBC News.
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