– Hristian Mickoski (second from left to right on the far side of the table), leader of VMRO-DPMNE, is pictured with his deputy, Alexander Nikolovski, and other representatives of the majority party:
The largest opposition party in northern Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE, has announced a new majority that will oust the incumbent Prime Minister’s Social Democrats in a parliamentary vote. Zoran Zaev.
The news was announced by party leader Hristian Mickoski, who posted two photos from the meeting with the new majority on his profile in Facebook.
It follows the defeat of the Social Democratic Union in local elections, prompting Zaev to announce his resignation as both prime minister and party leader. The resignation has not been submitted yet, but Zaev can be removed before that – by the new majority.
Mickoski (second from left to right on the far side of the table) is pictured with his deputy, Alexander Nikolovski, and other representatives of the majority parties: VMRO-DPMNE, Alliance of Albanians, Alternative, Left and Besa.
Return to power
In this case, Besa – a party from the ethnic Albanian bloc (which also includes the Alliance of Albanians and Alternative) – is the reason for the formation of the new majority.
It was a coalition partner of Zaev’s Social Democrats and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), Albania’s largest party. Zaev hoped not to lose Besa, but rather to strengthen his majority by attracting Alternative. However, tensions are still rising between Besa and DUI before the current majority was formed.
However, its secession from the ruling majority means that the government of the Social Democrats and the DUI will be overthrown in the next parliamentary vote.
This makes it impossible to maintain the current majority, simply with a prime minister other than Zaev, and makes it possible for the next prime minister of northern Macedonia to be called Christian Mickoski. However, his majority, like Zaev’s so far, would also be fragile – 61 out of 120 deputies.
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“A new future is coming, a new time and a new hope. Strong challenges await us, we are aware and grateful for the support and we will succeed,” Mickoski wrote. “(Northern) Macedonia will succeed! We have a new parliamentary majority.”
For VMRO-DPMNE, this would be a return to power handed over to the Social Democrats after waves of protests and the formation of a caretaker government and the failure to form a cabinet after the 2016 vote. Gruevski – linked by critics to rampant corruption, state captivity and international isolation – was sentenced to prison but escaped to Hungary and was granted political asylum.
The future government would also be the first without a DUI in power since 2008. DUI were a coalition partner of both VMRO-DPMNE and the last two SDSM cabinets. It was expected (according to inter-party agreements) in the last 100 days of Zaev’s regular cabinet – if he had served his term – that the party would nominate an Albanian prime minister to rule in Zaev’s place.
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