Four Democratic Party MPs have been fined a total of 760,000 lek ot 7,600 Euros, for setting fire to a number of chairs taken from the Parliament. The Secretary General of Parliament signed the orders for compensation to cover the damage caused during the protest, which was part of a strategy to retaliate against the Court of Appeal’s decision to sentence one of their colleagues to one year in prison for filing a false report.

Why is this important: While protests within Parliament have occurred on both the left and right throughout 33 years of political pluralism, the act of removing chairs from the chamber, dousing them with gasoline, and setting them on fire is unprecedented in Albanian parliamentary history. Moreover, this protest was directed at a judicial decision—a separate, independent branch of power. According to opposition MPs, who have been out of power for 11 years, Prime Minister Edi Rama exerts control over all branches of government, including the executive, legislative, and judiciary, leaving them no other form of protest.

Context: Following the incident, the Parliament Speaker ordered the formation of a working group to assess the damage. The group determined that the total value of the 30 destroyed chairs, taking amortization into account, amounted to 760,000 lek. The fine will be split among four MPs:

• The head of the parliamentary group who initiated the protest.
• The Secretary General of the Democratic Party responsible for coordinating the action.
• The MP who brought the gasoline into Parliament.
• The MP who set the chairs on fire.

If the MPs refuse to pay the fine, Parliament will deduct the amount from their salaries.