Skopje, 10 February 2024 (MIA) — After the Alliance for Albanians meeting in Kumanovo on Friday during which AA president Arben Taravari and attendees adopted a declaration confirming they would join North Macedonia's Albanian opposition bloc at the upcoming parliamentary election, AA central assembly chair Zijadin Sela called a meeting in Skopje on Saturday.

High on the meeting agenda is a report by the party president on recent developments related to the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

Sela said Taravari had been invited to the meeting, but "it was up to him whether he comes or not." Also discussed at the gathering will be the party's Oct. 21 decision on running in the elections.

Earlier, Sela's supporters said the Kumanovo meeting was illegitimate, stressing that there had been fewer than 40 attendees and not 75 as Taravari's supporters had said.

"That event was not an assembly, because based on our Statute, only the central assembly chair can schedule it," MP Adnan Neziri said Friday, adding that the legitimate assembly of the party would take place in Skopje on Saturday.

Taravari's supporters said Friday they would not attend the meeting, nor would Taravari.

Previously, after a consultative meeting on Thursday, they said 75 party members had backed the AA leader to join a coalition with the Albanian opposition bloc European Alliance for Change. "Our goal is that DUI, after 20 years [of rule] goes into opposition," the party's Blerant Ramadani said following the meeting.

The rift in the party began when Taravari had called on the membership to support the party's plans of joining North Macedonia's Albanian opposition bloc in the upcoming elections. Its central assembly chair and former leader Sela disagreed with the AA leader and said the party should run on its own, instead of as part of an opposition coalition.

Taravari received the support of caretaker Health Minister Fatmir Mexhiti and caretaker Minister of Information Society and Administration Azir Aliu.

Caretaker Justice Minister Krenar Loga and AA deputy president Ilire Dauti, however, backed Sela.

As a result, Parliament voted to dismiss Mexhiti and Aliu following the proposal of caretaker Prime Minister Talat Xhaferi that they be removed from their posts because "according to the law, there cannot be two opposition entities in the government."

Sixty-two MPs voted for the dismissal of the two ministers and no MPs voted against it. MPs from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE did not attend the vote.

The Alliance for Albanians has now proposed the current director of the Tetovo Clinical Hospital Ilir Demiri as new Minister of Health and Naim Bajrami as Minister of Information Society and Administration. The plenary session for their appointment has been scheduled for Monday. mr/