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Macedonia's SDSM party leader asks for mandate to form gov't

Xinhua, April 7, 2017 Adjust font size:

The head of the Social Democratic Union party (SDSM) Zoran Zaev Friday once again urged Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov to mandate his party to form a government, saying democratic processes are the only solution to divisions.

In a press release, Zaev said President Ivanov ought to enable a peaceful transfer of power, calling on the president to respect the wish of the majority of citizens and pave the way for the formation of the new government.

Zaev said the SDSM has secured parliamentary majority with 67 seats after it formed a coalition with ethnic Albanian parties.

Therefore, the SDSM party leader expressed the confidence in a functional assembly and a new reform-oriented government.

After the statement from SDSM, however, the head of the rival VMRO-DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski told reporters that swift elections are the best possible solution to the crisis.

According to Gruevski, citizens in Macedonia didn't vote for the platform that Zaev has presented to them after the elections.

And President Ivanov also cited the so-called Tirana platform, drafted by ethnic Albanian parties and made public in Albanian capital, as a major reason not to mandate Zaev.

According to President Ivanov and Gruevski, such platform threatens the country's sovereignty and unity.

"VMRO­-DPMNE and the people will not allow the Tirana Platform implementation, the country's redefinition, the ultimate goal being a name change, according to the script of SDSM and the Albanian parties," Gruevski said. Endit