Analyst Bedri Islami considers the protest of the Democratic Party on September 14, 1998, when it was in opposition, more violent and more serious than the one organized by the Socialist Party on January 21, 2011.

In an interview for Euronews Albania, Islami said that at that time, the coffin of the late Azem Hajdari was used in the protest and the protesters entered the Prime Minister’s office, and then took the buildings of the ministries.

According to him, this forced the then-prime minister, Fatos Nano, to leave the country.

“In Albania, we have a precedent that is much more violent and dangerous than what happened on January 21. We have September 14, 1998. On September 14, 1998, the forces of today’s opposition, which was also in opposition at that time, using the coffin of the late [Azem Hajdari], attacked the Prime Minister’s Office. They also attacked it with armored vehicles, they also attacked it with weapons, occupied it, and even entered inside. They took the Prime Ministership, and they forced the Prime Minister of the time, Nano, to flee the country. They took the ministries. Then, everything was clarified that power could not be taken by force”, he emphasized.