Tetovo, 21 February 2024 (MIA) - The Alliance for Albanians (AA) said in a statement to the public that the party leader Arben Taravari has held an extraordinary press conference in Tetovo. Taravari has underlined two goals for the upcoming presidential elections, noting that he believes a president should be elected in Parliament in the future. 

"I joined this race with bigger goals. My goal and that of my partners is twofold: first, we intend for an Albanian candidate to enter for the first time the presidential run-off, and second, we want to open the great debate about the function of the president in our political system. North Macedonia is a parliamentary republic, not a presidential or a semi-presidential republic. In addition, our entire political and constitutional system is built on the model of consensual democracy between the two largest nationalities, and this is sanctioned by the introduction of the Ohrid Agreement into the Constitution," said Taravari. 

He noted that his presidential platform will be built around the strengthening of consensual democracy, along the lines of Arben Xhaferi's thought.

"My partners and I aim for the future opening of the Constitution to include three elements: Including Bulgarians and other minorities in the Constitution, second, removing the '20 percent' wording about the Albanian language, third, electing a president in Parliament and no longer in elections. This is the big news. In this way, in the future, the political forces representing the two largest nationalities together in the Parliament will decide on the distribution of the three highest state functions," Taravari pointed out.

He seeks the support of the Albanians and DUI. 

"I call on the Albanians and DUI, which is still hesitating on who to nominate and which in the past also supported a Macedonian candidate for president, by reason of consensus, to support my vision and my candidacy. We now have the opportunity to strengthen consensual democracy together in a constitutional way. We can now ensure that one of the three main state functions automatically goes to the Albanians, as the second majority nation in Macedonia," Taravari says, as cited by his office.

Photo: MIA archive