By Selim Ibraimi–The new government of Northern Macedonia is about to be announced by the partners SDSM and DUI. The ‘two’ post-Gruevist political players Zoran Zaev and Ali Ahmeti are trying to harmonize positions on the position of prime minister and ministries in the next government.
After weeks of electoral tensions between Ahmeti and Zaev, the two leaders have sat down to form a government and move towards reforms required by the European Union.
DUI’s biggest opponent, Ziadin Sela’s Alliance of Albanians and Afrim Gashi’s Alternative, have made it known that if Ahmeti does not take over the prime minister position, the party should withdraw from the talks.
But such a thing is unlikely to happen. At a press conference, an Alternative official said they had not formally talked to Zaev about joining the government.
The Alliance of Albanians also said that DUI and SDSM are making a political theater and they have a narrow parliamentary majority.
Political dynamics show that SDSM and DUI can finally round up the talks in the next 10 days and according to estimates some Albanian parties will remain in opposition.
In the new government composition, in addition to DUI, SDSM, are Menduh Thaci’s DPA and Besa, a party that entered the coalition with SDSM in the spring to save Zaev from losing to VMRO. This party is unlikely to form a parliamentary group.
Northern Macedonia suffers from the lack of rule of law, high unemployment, a shattered health care system, interethnic tensions, political irresponsibility, culture of legal impunity, nepotism and political corruption. In the autumn, the country should start opening chapters with the EU. The pandemic has also brought the country and the economy to its knees, increasing poverty and the misuse of international aid coming to Macedonia. The new government has a lot of work to do. (ISSDMaqedonia-@CSSDMacedonia)
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]Selim Ibraimi is an Albanian-American international politics analyst and researcher on Balkan affairs. He graduated in Journalism (BA). He holds a master’s degree in International Relations (MA) from Webster University, Scott Air Force Base in the United States. Selim Ibraimi is a PhD student in Political Science at the South East European University in Tetovo, N. Macedonia. He lives and works in the United States and N. Macedonia. He is the Director of the Institute for Security Studies and Development – Macedonia (ISSD). Ibraimi is the author of several books and publications on the Balkans. “The Cold Peace” (10 years of geopolitical reconfigurations in the Balkans) -2016. “The Territory of Silent War” (New Trends and Dynamics in Southeast Europe) -2018. -The Decisive Battle (The Plague of the border changes in the Balkans) -2019.[/box]