Albanian opposition Democrats in protest for free election

Albania's main opposition Democratic Party leader has vowed to continue protests demanding that the government resign and hand over to a caretaker cabinet to take the country to free and fair elections in June.

Lulzim Basha today led a protest of several thousand supporters, accusing the ruling Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Edi Rama of trying to manipulate the voting process.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18 are hoped to pave the way for Albania to gain European Union approval to launch membership negotiations.

The governing coalition has said there is no time to meet the opposition's demand for electronic voting.

Elections in post-communist Albania have never been described by the international observers as fully free or fair.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)