Leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) Ali Ahmeti on Thursday afternoon in the parliament held meetings with SDSM leader Zoran Zaev and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski, who lead the largest parliamentary groups, in an effort to secure a majority that will support the new government after the July 15th elections.
DUI spokesperson Bujar Osmani said that in recent days there had been news that he called speculation. He added that official negotiations began on Thursday, at Ali Ahmeti’s meetings.
Osmani assessed the meeting between Ahmeti and Zaev as “constructive and hopeful for a successful epilogue, but not decisive for such an epilogue”.
Asked if it can be understood that the chances are high for an Albanian Prime Minister, even for a year, Osmani said that they will have to wait because it is not correct if all positions are announced.
“Yes, but we will have to wait because it is not correct if we announce all our positions on the table. Today, the most talked about aspect is the restoration of the lost trust during the election campaign in order to create preconditions for setting the table on our positions. A little more patience is needed during the meetings in the coming days,” said Osmani.
Osmani claims that DUI does not rule out meetings with other parties either. Asked about a possible DUI-VMRO-DPMNE coalition, a spokesman for the DUI said “they will not leave the country without a government”, but declined to talk about “hypothetical situations”.
VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski has previously begun creating the parliamentary majority needed for a mandate and a new government. After Levica leader Dimitar Apasiev publicly announced that the two MPs from that party would support VMRO-DPMNE for the composition of a new government, although they would not seek participation in it, he met with the DUI leader.
The meeting between Mickoski and Ali Ahmeti, as informed by party circles, lasted more than an hour, and took place in the Parliament. The topic was the formation of a coalition that will form the new government. If Mickoski secures support from the Levica and DUI, VMRO-DPMNE will have the necessary 61 MPs with their support, enough for a mandate and a new government.
On the other hand, SDSM, according to the agreement with DPA, already has 47 mandates and with the 15 of DUI would provide the necessary majority of 52 MPs.
