Albanian Students Continue Strike for Political Changes for 8th Day
Students in Albania ignored official calls for discipline Wednesday and continued a week-old strike for political concessions.
Both state-controlled and opposition media reported that students in Tirana, the Albanian capital, boycotted classes for an eighth day. The strikers are demanding a referendum on removing the late communist leader Enver Hoxha’s name from the university and the resignation of several ministers in the communist government.
About 15,000 workers in Kavaje, 18 miles southwest of the capital, and 1,200 workers at a Tirana factory signed petitions supporting the students, said Ben Ruka, a reporter with the main opposition newspaper, Democratic Revival.
In a speech to workers Tuesday, President Ramiz Alia urged all Albanians to return to work and head off a “crisis situation.”
Free elections are set for March 31.
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