It turns out there are worse than ours! In Albania, unruly MPs set fire to parliamentary seats.

After the scuffle and tension during the session held in the Albanian Parliament, opposition deputies set their chairs on fire outside the parliament building.

DEPUTIES SET CHAIRS ON FIRE

The tension initially began during the session held in the general assembly hall when deputies from the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Albania (PD), blocked the podium in protest against the imprisonment of PD Deputy Ervin Salianji. Opposition deputies, who also damaged some equipment in the hall, threw foreign objects at the Speaker of the Assembly, Elisa Spiropali. Following the scuffle and tension in the general assembly hall, opposition deputies took some of the chairs they were sitting on outside the parliament building and set them on fire. After the events, Speaker Spiropali interrupted the session.

DEPUTIES HAD SAID THEY WOULD BLOCK THE PARLIAMENT SESSION

Meanwhile, opposition deputies had previously announced that they would block the parliament session due to the loss of Deputy Salianji's parliamentary position following his conviction. While the PD argued that the decision of the Court of Appeals was unfair and political, the deputies stated that they would continue their actions. Speaker Spiropali also emphasized in a message she published that the chairs, which are sat upon, should be respected due to the weight of the trust received from the citizens, stating, "The burning of these is the clearest evidence of the extreme lack of respect for citizens, the law, and the institutions of the democratic state."

Salianji had been accused of publishing a fake audio recording alleging that relatives of the then Albanian Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj were involved in drug trafficking. The Court of Appeals in the capital Tirana upheld the decision on September 26, 2024, sentencing Salianji to 1 year in prison for "false reporting."