Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha has reacted sharply to the draft law on gender equality, describing it as an initiative that " risks destroying the Albanian family and traditional values ."
In a statement to the media outside the Parliament premises, Berisha said that the draft law is " based entirely on the ideology of the extreme left " and " overturns the Constitution, the country's codes and the thousands of years of heritage of Albanians ."
"This leads to the destruction of the family as the foundation of a society. This law, based entirely on the ideology of the extreme left, overturns the country's constitution, the country's codes, the positive heritage of thousands of years and penalizes and punishes all those who should protect the family and its values. It penalizes the laws, the constitution, the articles of the family. The articles of freedom of thought and expression. In the name of approximation with European directives, which is a great deception, the law leads towards totalitarianism. It is identical to the law that declared Albania an atheist state," said Berisha, while further warning that the Democratic Party will launch protests.
He said that the opposition's goal is to overthrow Prime Minister Edi Rama and that they will soon appear before the Prime Minister's Office.
"But we will soon start the battle against the main author of this law, at the prime minister's office, against this person who has undertaken to transfigure the Albanian family for the concepts he has about the family. Our battle is with one person and only one person and this is Edi Rama, we will no longer deal with his puppets, because his puppets are miserable ," the former prime minister said.
Also, during his speech, Berisha conveyed a message to the European Union Ambassador, Silvio Gonzato, who supported this draft law.
The former prime minister asked him to put aside his sexual orientation and not try to impose standards of multiple gender affiliation on Albanian society.
" Now I say this to the ambassador, sir, we respect everyone's sexual orientation, but your efforts to impose standards of multiple gender affiliation on Albanian society, and I tell you even in your status you are binary. We do not deal with the treatment, he has children, he had a wife, and he made his own decisions, I do not want to deal with his personal life. The law has nothing in common", said Berisha among other things.
Activists and religious representatives have gathered in protest in front of the Parliament to oppose the draft law on gender equality.
The banners held by the protesters read: "There are only two genders, male and female."
The "Pro Family and Life" coalition stated that the draft law contradicts Albanian tradition and aims to forcefully change the notions of man and woman.
According to them, although several definitions that clearly define gender as "male-female" have been approved and clarified in Article 4, these changes have not been reflected in other articles of the law.
The protesters also added that the term "gender inclusive" continues to be used in several articles, specifically in Article 10, which they say contradicts the spirit of Article 4.