A lawmaker Rama picked for parliament joins the protests against him, as 500 people are detained and Tirana burns for a fourth day

The defection is the story, because of who chose her.

Marjana Koceku was picked by Prime Minister Edi Rama himself last year to run for parliament, one of a group of young lawmakers he wanted as the face of his Socialist Party. She is 25 and now sits as an independent. This week she walked out of that arrangement and into the street, joining the student protests that are demanding Ramas resignation while police fired tear gas and water cannon near her.

The anger underneath is older than this week. Corruption, a lack of jobs and a settled feeling that the government does not work for ordinary people built up over months of mostly peaceful demonstrations, which began over the sale of protected coastal land at Zvernec and Sazan Island for a luxury hotel project linked to Jared Kushner, the son in law of President Trump. The students say the government ignored the peaceful phase. This week the protests turned: crowds swarmed Tirana, set fire to government buildings and banks, smashed windows, raided a bank and threw pavement stones at police, and unrest spread to Elbasan, Shkodra and Korca. Police figures, as of October 17, put detentions at 500, with 330 released, and injuries at 120 police and 45 protesters, with the protester figure likely higher because many injuries were never recorded.

Rama has been in power since 2013, half of Kocekus life. He won a fourth term in elections last year, denies wrongdoing, and told Reuters this week that he will not step down, saying governments are changed through democratic elections, and Albania had them last year, not through violence. In a video address on Friday he went further and blamed foreign hands that do not wish Albania to be at peace, and said the demonstrations have nothing to do with the hardships or legitimate aspirations of anyone who wants a better life.

Koceku said the opposite, standing in the protest as the gas drifted past. The country is amazing, she said, but the policies of this political elite are completely against what Albanian communities and citizens have been asking for. Albania is part of a wider European week of young people in the street, with Frances school protests running at the same time, and it is now, in Reuters judgment, the biggest threat Rama has faced in thirteen years in power.