The leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), Ali Ahmeti, addressing citizens on January 27, 2024. Photo courtesy: Ali Ahmeti (Facebook, clip grab)
Jan 27, 2024. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
Talat
Xhaferi is expected to assume the role of the first Albanian Prime Minister in
North Macedonia this Sunday after the vote in the Assembly on the composition
of the interim Government that will lead the country to the double elections to
be held in May.
The leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), Ali Ahmeti, addressed the citizens in a speech calling Sunday a historic day.
“Four years
ago, from this place, I addressed you with the words ‘everything starts with a
dream’. I told you that we all have our dreams for our children. Freedom and
equality do not come easily; they also require belief that the goal will be
achieved. I believed in the Ohrid Agreement and the official recognition of the
Albanian language,” said Ahmeti.
He
expressed belief that North Macedonia will become part of the European Union.
“I believe
we will soon join the EU because it is our ideal. Tomorrow is a historic day.
On January 28, we will elect the first Albanian Prime Minister of North
Macedonia. This day is historic both for Albanians and Macedonians because we
are becoming a state and a society of equals, and we are overcoming all
prejudices together, taking responsibility to lead the country not one after
the other, shoulder to shoulder, for a European North Macedonia,” stressed the
leader of the BDI.
“I am
grateful that you trusted us, that you stood behind our dream, and that this
trust of yours will be rewarded tomorrow with a promise kept and with work done
and a dream realized. Our country will become stronger and more united. This is
just the beginning; we have much work to do and dreams to realize,” Ahmeti
expressed.
Earlier
during the week, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski,
presented his resignation, along with that of his cabinet, to the Parliament on
Thursday. He has led the Government since January 11, 2022.
The
technical Government, expected to be voted on January 28, will be led by Talat
Xhaferi from the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), who also resigned from
the position of the Speaker of the North Macedonian Parliament on January 26.
Jovan
Mitrevski from SDSM will assume the position of the Parliament Speaker, and
will also prepare the session for the election of the new government.
The
opposition in North Macedonia will be part of the technical Government,
according to the Law on Elections, aiming to organize and conduct the electoral
process.
VMRO-DPMNE
will lead two ministries, Internal Affairs and Ministry of Labor and Social
Policy, as well as three deputy minister positions with specific
responsibilities.
The leader
of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, stated that his party remains firm in not
voting for Talat Xhaferi as the Prime Minister of the technical Government.
However,
the non-voting of opposition MPs does not prevent the formation of the new
government since the parliamentary majority has the necessary number of 61
votes to approve the new government.
“We will be
in the parliament hall, but we will abstain from voting because we believe that
Talat Xhaferi does not deserve to be voted for the leadership of this
government. We will not vote for him, considering his behavior, violation of
the Parliament’s rules, Constitution, and many other parliamentary procedures.
We believe that he cannot lead with this duty and make us proud. But he will be
in this position as a result of an agreement between SDSM and BDI,” said
Mickoski.
The
opposition leader said that he does not expect “good things” from this
government; instead, he anticipates conflicts and disputes on all issues.
“This will
be a government of conflicts; it will not be a government to set goals for the
work it will do. Every day there will be bickering over different things.
There, we will not be able to talk about something valuable for the state,”
Mickoski said.
Another
change in the new government is expected in the position of the First Deputy
Prime Minister. Bojan Maricikj from SDSM will replace Artan Grubi of BDI in
this position. Grubi is currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister for European
Affairs.
The
technical Government to be voted on January 28 will be the third in a row since
the changes in the Law on the Work of the Government.
Its functioning 100 days before each electoral cycle was established in 2016 when former prime minister Nikola Gruevski was ousted from power.
Gruevski is in
exile in Hungary to avoid imprisonment and several legal proceedings for abuse
of office and manipulation of electoral processes.
Euronews