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Roundup: Spat between political camps deepens in Macedonia, no sign of new gov't

Xinhua, February 23, 2017 Adjust font size:

Two months after the snap general elections of Dec. 11, Macedonia sees no sign of new government as the division between political camps deepened.

Nearly one month after Nikola Gruesvki, head of the VMRO-DPMNE which won the majority of parliamentary seats, failed to form a coalition that would pave the way for the creation of new government, it seems that it is getting even more difficult to ensure the numbers needed for formation of government.

Currently, the main opposition party, Macedonian Social Democratic Union (SDSM) chaired by Zoran Zaev, is engaged in talks with the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) led by Ali Ahmeti.

Since Gruevski won 51 seats and Zaev 49 seats, it means that they both needed another party to guarantee the necessary 61 votes needed for the making up of a government.

Gruevski's talks with Ahmeti, representing the ethnic Albanian's minority here, didn't prove successful. It is Zaev's turn to try to reach a deal.

The main obstacle delaying the formation of a ruling coalition remains the proposal of DUI and other Albanian parties on a wider use of the Albanian language in Macedonia.

In this regard, Zaev and Ahmeti met Tuesday night in order to find a way to harmonize their stances on this issue.

"With the head of SDSM, we have discussed many topics, the differences that exist between us, the Constitution, the political situation that the country is going through and important issues that relate to the solution of many problems," Ahmeti told local media after the meeting.

Although both Zaev and Ahmeti claimed after the meeting that they were close to reaching a deal, SDSM officials told media Wednesday that the solution for this issue must be based on the Constitution.

On the other hand, head of VMRO-DPMNE Nikola Gruevski reacted Wednesday on ongoing negotiations between the two parties to form a new government, saying that VMRO-DPMNE wouldn't allow any scenario aimed at re-defining Macedonia.

"I must stress that VMRO-­DPMNE and its coalition are relentlessly determined to defend the country and its national interests," Gruevski said.

He added that SDSM and DUI were trying to "d­e-factorize" the Macedonian people.

In this regard, he said that people in Macedonia were prepared to fight for these interests.

Further on, Gruevski told reporters that SDSM couldn't change the Constitution without VMRO-DPMNE.

Whilst the situation in Macedonia is still in a standstill as many issues remain yet to be discussed, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is scheduled to visit Macedonia at the beginning of next month. Endit