(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Protests that have no connection to political parties are increasing rapidly in Albania to the point where scarcely a day passes without one such rally in the capital Tirana.
Professional groups including lawyers dentists environmentalists business people and social activists are all taking to streets to voice their anger.
The latest - held against the construction of a children's playground in the city's Lake Park - mustered two groups of protesters opposition party supporters and independent civil society activists - with the latter struggling to separate themselves from the former.
A trend towards protests by civil society groups has made itself felt in recent years in contrast to the past when most rallies were organised and led by political parties.
When Sali Berisha held power from 2005 to 2013 the left-wing opposition organised most street protests demanding new elections and denouncing government corruption.
In January 2011 republican guard forces notoriously shot dead four opposition protesters in front of the Prime Minister's office.
These days protesters are less keen to rely on political parties when confronting what they feel is injustice.
Alida Karakushi a public policy analyst who has taken part in different protests since 2012 told BIRN that Albanians want to detach themselves from politics altogether because they do not trust the old political establishment.
"People in Albania have lost trust in the two main parties and they have started to understand that there is strength in being together in professionals groups which they can use against the politicians" Karakushi said.
She joined civil activists in protesting against the plan of Tirana Municipality to build a children's playground in the Lake Park using social network to tell the parties to stay away from their protest.
She says civil society protests are having a kind of domino effect in society.
"These kinds of protests fuel each other. People see that others are taking to the streets and then find the courage to do the same" Karakushi said. After taking part in protests against two last governments in Albania she believes the current government of Prime Minister Edi Rama is more sophisticated in using public relation tactics to diminish the role of protesters.
"The way Berisha's government tried to confront protests was more direct while the current government is more refined in drowning out the voice of protesters" she believes.
Lutfi Dervishi a journalism lecturer at Tirana University sees the rise of civil society-led protests as good news.
"Our society seems to have started to wake up. Unlike the old party political protests today's protests belong to interest groups like businessmen or environmentalists. They are protests with a clear aim" Dervishi said.
He believes most people are tired and disappointed with all governments and political parties.
He also appreciates that Albanians have become much more sensitive to environmental issues and ready to confront governments' arrogance in this field.
One of the most remarkable protests staged by Albanian civil society groups in recent years clearly reflected environmental concerns.
On November 2013 thousands took the streets to oppose the destruction in Albania of old chemical weapons stockpiles from Syria forcing Prime Minister Rama to refuse a request from Washington for Albania to do so.
Education is another issue that groups unconnected to politics are fighting for.
In 2014 students and lectures started a protest against a the new law on higher education creating the "For the University Movement". They still are continuing protests against the law being implemented.