VMRO-DPMNE, DUI join in coalition to form new government of Macedonia

The VMRO-DPMNE party reached a coalition with the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) party on Sunday to form a new government of Macedonia, local media reported.

The coalition came just in time before the constitutional Sunday deadline for the formation of a new government expired.

Nikola Gruevski, head of the party VMRO-DPMNE, was mandated on Jan. 9 by President Gjorge Ivanov to form the new government, after his party garnered 51 seats against 49 seats won by the rival Social Democrats SDSM led by Zoran Zaev.

Each bloc needed at least 61 seats to form a new government.

So VMRO-DPMNE still needs to seek support of other minor parties to form the majority of the parliament.

A few hours before the deadline expired, VMRO-DPMNE decided to accept the conditions set by DUI led by Ali Ahmeti and sign the coalition agreement, media said.

One of the conditions was the usage of Albanian as the second official language in Macedonia and in every level of the administration.

Three Albanian-minority parliamentary parties in Macedonia, namely DUI, the Revival with BESA coalition and the Alliance for Albanians, adopted early this month a joint platform with an aim of using it to launch negotiations for government formation.

The three parties which together have 18 seats seek full equality between Macedonians and Albanians in the Macedonian state, according to media reports. Endit