site.btaTalk of Early Elections Emerges in North Macedonia

There is talk of early elections in the Republic of North Macedonia. The topic was opened at the end of last week, when in parliament the country's Prime Minister, Hristijan Mickoski, was answering a question by the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Venko Filipce.

From the parliamentary rostrum Filipce recalled Mickoski’s words from an interview before the elections that he would return the mandate if he ever had to pronounce the new name of the country - North Macedonia.

"Come on, Prime Minister, now is your chance to give back the mandate in Parliament. Instead, you and your functionaries have begun using the constitutional name (of the state), and some are pronouncing it proudly. With this, you have shown that your politics has no backbone," said Filipce.

"If you want to go to elections - let's have a go. Along with local (elections, next fall), we can go (to parliamentary elections). If you want, we can agree right now. But beware of drowning in the deep," Mickoski responded. 

A day later, the chairman of the largest Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), Ali Ahmeti, announced during a meeting with citizens in Bogovine that he accepted the idea of early parliamentary elections, for which Mickoski "must prepare well". Ahmeti said that whether there will be elections will determine whether Mickoski keeps his word or is trying to scare the opposition.

However, Mickoski said he mentioned the election in response to a question from the SDSM leader and DUI "should prepare for (taking) responsibility." The IMRO-DPMNE would prepare for elections "when the time comes", the Prime Minister responded. Taking a journalist's question while inspecting the construction of a motorway section near Prilep a day later, Mickoski recalled that in the elections less than six months ago, the government had received "over 600,000 votes" and planned to deliver what it had promised in the next four years.

The issue of early elections, however, continued to be relevant.

During another meeting with citizens in Kumanovo this week, Ahmeti said that if he loses the elections, he will retire from politics, local media reported.

At a press conference on Monday, the SDSM chairman also announced readiness for early parliamentary elections. According to Filipce, the fact that Mickoski has begun talking about early elections only a few months after the government was formed is proof that the government is not doing a good job.

"Our field research shows that 65 percent of citizens are not satisfied with the government's performance. This means that two out of three citizens are not satisfied with the economic policy, with the decline in living standards, with our European path. This is also a message that (VMRO-DPMNE's coalition partners) VLEN and ZNAM are clearly marginalised," Filipce said at a recent news conference.

Deputy Prime Minister Izet Mexhiti, leader of the Democratic Movement party-part of the coalition around VMRO-DPMNE, believes "there is no logic in organizing early parliamentary elections" because this government is stable and parliamentary support for it is growing, "soon to reach a majority of 80 MPs," which is two-thirds of Parliament. 

In an interview with TV Telma, Minister for European Affairs, VLEN member Orhan Murtezani, said he sees no reason for early elections, given that the government has almost a two-thirds majority.

North Macedonia needs early elections, the Alliance for Albanians headed by Ziadin Sela thinks. Together with DUI they are part of the European Front coalition. In the elections in May, the European Front received more votes than the VLEN alliance, but Mickoski rejected them as a possible coalition partner. The European Front has repeatedly stated that they do not consider VLEN the legitimate representatives of the Albanian community in government.

VMRO-DPMNE's other coalition partner, the ZNAM movement, are ready for elections "if the majority decides". This was stated in an interview on Alpha TV by ZNAM chairman and Mayor of Kumanovo, Maxim Dimitrievski.

Local analysts find it difficult to predict whether there will be snap elections in North Macedonia. For frontline.mk media portal Petrit Saracini of the Institute for Media and Analytics says it is possible that the issue is being used by political party leaders to sustain the mobilisation of party supporters.

Parliamentary elections in the Republic of North Macedonia were held in May this year and were won with a convincing result by VMRO-DPMNE, which formed a government with the VLEN coalition and the ZNAM movement, while the SDSM and DSI, which ruled the country in recent years, went into opposition.