Opposition to a planned luxury resort linked to US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner has drawn large daily protests for almost two weeks in the Balkan nation.In late May, local opposition to barbed-wire fencing and bulldozers appearing on a quiet beach in the coastal area of Zvernec -- about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Tirana -- exploded into a national movement, after videos of violent clashes between demonstrators and private security spread online.For Fadel Dia, one of the protesters, the luxury resorts were “only the trigger” and in reality “there are many reasons why we are demonstrating here today”."For 36 years, we have been ruled by corrupt governments, one after the other. None of these governments has done anything for the Albanian people. They have only enriched themselves and robbed us”, the 26-year-old IT worker told AFP.
Nightly protests have been held in Tirana © Adnan Beci / AFP
But faced with one of the most direct challenges to his almost 13-year leadership, including consistent cries for his resignation and chants of “Albania is not for sale” in front of his office every evening, Rama has remained defiant."Albania has never been for sale," he declared in front of his Socialist Party faithful, as his party marks 35 years since its foundation.Thousands of supporters of Rama’s party holding Albanian and European Union flags greeted his speech with ovations.Just a short walk away, protesters marched under placards calling for his ousting as chants demanding an end to the resort project echoed off government buildings.Many reasons for protest
