VZCZCXRO6147
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHTI #0751 3271647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231647Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8607
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TIRANA 000751 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM KDEM AL
SUBJECT: SP Rally Ends, But Party Vows More to Come 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFED - PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  After nearly 48 hours of fiery speeches, traffic 
congestion and booming music, the opposition Socialist Party's 
latest protest rally ended on Sunday afternoon.  The rally concluded 
without incident, free of provocations or violence as some had 
feared.  The demonstration was larger and better organized than 
previous SP rallies, with an estimated 10,000 participants present 
on Friday night and an estimated 1,500 hundred throughout the 
weekend.  On the demonstration's final day, SP Chairman Edi Rama 
stated in a speech that the SP will give Prime Minister Berisha ten 
days to comply with SP demands to open contested ballot boxes from 
the June parliamentary elections.  Rama vowed that if Berisha 
refuses to open the boxes, the SP will "begin demonstrations in 
every city" in an effort to force early elections.  Several SP 
members told PolOff on Friday that the real goal of the 
demonstration was not to cow the GOA but to create the impression 
for the international community of an Albanian political system in 
crisis.  Many, if not most of the participants were either paid or 
forced to attend, a standard protest tactic used by both parties. 
Nevertheless, the SP leader's ability to turn-out a large crowd has 
enabled him to re-invigorate his message of flawed elections among 
his SP base while strengthening his hand for the moment in 
continuing the boycott.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The rally began on Friday afternoon, with thousands of 
demonstrators gathering on Skenderbeg Square before marching the 
half-mile to the Prime Minister's Office, where a large stage had 
been placed in the middle of Tirana's main street.  Leaders from the 
SP and several other allied parties took to the stage to demand an 
opening of the ballot boxes and vow a quick end to PM Berisha's 
second term in office.  After several hours of speeches, most of the 
approximately 10,000 protesters dispersed, leaving behind 500-1000 
SP supporters who pitched tents in the street to stay the night. 
During the day on Saturday and Sunday, speeches by SP leaders were 
interspersed with pop and folk music performances, giving Tirana's 
main thoroughfare a more festive than political atmosphere.  The 
demonstration ended on Sunday afternoon following a speech by Edi 
Rama in which he vowed to use a combination of demonstrations and 
civil disobedience to force early elections.  Throughout the 48-hour 
rally, a large police presence stood off to the side, watching but 
not interfering.  No clashes or other incidents between SP 
supporters and police were reported. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) COMMENT:  It is too early to tell how this latest 
demonstration will change the political dynamic.  Although viewed as 
a success by the SP leadership, the demonstration reflected more the 
SP's organizational abilities than any real public anger towards the 
government.  Several SP MPs, including one firmly in the pro-Rama 
camp, told PolOff that the real goal of the rally was not to cow the 
GOA (Rama knows that Berisha will likely not bow to boycotts and 
demonstrations, a strategy Berisha used himself to little effect 
when he was opposition leader), but to prove to the international 
community that the SP is serious about its obstructionist strategy. 
In terms of playing to the internationals and firing up the SP base, 
the SP leadership believes that the protest succeeded - something 
that will only make Rama and his supporters more determined than 
ever to carry on with the parliamentary boycott and drive toward 
early elections.