Parliament resuming session to elect new government by midnight
Skopje, 16 January 2022 (MIA) — Parliament is set to resume Sunday noon its 60th session to elect the new cabinet, led by Dimitar Kovachevski.
SDSM president and Prime Minister-designate Kovachevski presenting the new government agenda in Parliament on Saturday announced a boost in the country’s minimum wage, which he said would contribute to an increase in the average income.
The new government’s policies will also focus on reducing the unemployment rate, which is projected to reach 11.4 percent in 2024 and 8.6 percent by the end of 2026, he added.
Kovachevski said the new government would increase retirees’ pension checks, as well.
In his speech before lawmakers, he said the new government had a clear and feasible plan to face the economic and energy crisis and deal with the negative consequences.
“Facing the effects of the pandemic and the energy crisis remains the main challenge in the economy,” Kovachevski said, adding that the new government would intervene by supporting the population and the economy.
“The Government will implement a strategy that in the short, medium and long term will ensure secure energy supply and a sustainable energy system. The focus will be on renewable energy sources and the efficient use of available natural resources,” he said.
Talks with Bulgaria will continue, but no one may or will dispute the identity and language of the Macedonian people, the PM-designate said.
“We have achieved our decades-long strategic goal of NATO membership and provided peace, stability, and a secure future for our children,” he noted.
“But on the road to the EU we face challenges that the two governments of North Macedonia and Bulgaria are determined to solve through dialogue and cooperation.
“Macedonian and Bulgarian citizens are more interested in the economy; cultural, educational and youth exchanges; and road infrastructure. These are the issues we need to cooperate much more on. History belongs to historians, but our identity issues are the foundations of our nation and our state.
“The Government has no dilemmas: No one may and no one will debate on the identity of the Macedonian people or the historically and scientifically confirmed specificity and uniqueness of the Macedonian language.”
The PM-designate also said North Macedonia would continue its good neighborly politics, strengthening cooperation with all neighboring countries.
In the parliamentary debate that followed, the opposition completely disagreed with the ruling coalition, with lawmakers clashing views on the legitimacy and the competence of the new cabinet members.
For the opposition, the new government would continue in the previous one’s steps and the new ministers would not be able to deal with any challenges.
“This Kovachevski government is a continuation of the corrupt Zaev government, which citizens punished in the elections. A government causing economic devastation, constant price hikes, job losses, and the economy tanking,” VMRO-DPMNE’s Aleksandar Nikoloski said.
Additionally, opposition MPs said the government wouldn’t be politically legitimate, both because the PM-designate didn’t run in any elections and because the ruling coalition lost the local elections.
Unlike the opposition, lawmakers from the ruling coalition said the new government ministers would maintain the positive course set by the previous government. Their legitimacy, they stressed, had been decided by the citizens in the 2020 parliamentary election.
SDSM’s Darko Kaevski said citizens in the 2020 early parliamentary election gave their strong support to the ruling coalition to lead the country and highlighted the newly increased parliamentary majority as proof of the government being on the right track. These views were echoed by SDSM’s Snezhana Kaleska Vancheva, who also said the new ministers were legitimate and deserved the MPs’ trust.
VMRO-DPMNE’s Nikola Micevski said there would be no difference between the previous and the new government.
“All attempts to portray the new government as some change or a fresh new energy crumble the moment you see the list of proposed ministers. The new government has the same content only in slightly different packaging,” Micevski said, adding that “very soon all incompetence, crime, corruption and dysfunction will surface.”
DUI lawmaker Arbr Ademi said electing the new government would give the ruling coalition the green light to continue managing the energy and health crisis and improving citizens’ quality of life. “Let’s roll up our sleeves together and take the country to where it belongs, the big European family,” Ademi said.
He added that DUI members of government had achieved results that couldn’t be disputed. “While there were restrictions in the region and even some cities were left without light, [DUI's] Bekteshi said that there would be no restrictions. And it was so. A solution was found for the Skopje central heating, and the prices for the households did not increase,” Ademi said.
He added that at the height of the pandemic more than 60,000 jobs were saved, unemployment was down, exports were up, and DUI members had a vision of how the country could move forward and manage crises.
Alliance for Albanians’ MP Halil Snopçe, much like other opposition lawmakers, said the new government would not offer anything new, given it had old staff who either rotated or kept the same roles and were not held accountable for any scandals, corruption, or tragedies.
“We are a country with the highest corruption in Europe, and the minister who was responsible for the fight against corruption continues to be in your government. We gave 200 passports to drug criminals to travel freely, endangering the Schengen area. We had various scandals. Mijalkov enters and leaves the country whenever he wants, former Prime Minister Gruevski fled, Mr. Spasovski continues to be Minister of Interior,” Snopçe said.
He also said the court system didn’t work, laws were not implemented, there was impunity for people close to the government, and the Minister of Justice would remain in government.
Several opposition MPs said the country was headed for a snap parliamentary election. If the proposed government was elected, they said, it would be a short-term, ephemeral government.
VMRO-DPMNE’s Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said the biggest blow to the legitimacy of the government was the defeat in the local elections. She also wondered why Radmila Shekerinska was not going to remain at the helm of the Ministry of Defense.
“You keep mentioning NATO, but the Minister of Defense Radmila Shekerinska, who was a personification of NATO, is not on your list. I don’t know if she was dismissed or she left the post for personal reasons,” Siljanovska Davkova said.
In addition to Shekerinska, seven ministers are leaving the government, including Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. Nikola Dimitrov will no longer be Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs. Minister of Health Venko Filipche, Minister of Education and Science Mila Carovska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska, and Minister of Culture Irena Stefoska are also leaving their ministerial posts.
The current Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj of SDSM will be Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs. Slavjanka Petrovska of SDSM will be Minister of Defense. Bekim Sali from Alternativa will head the Ministry of Health. The current Minister of Information Society and Administration Jeton Shaqiri of DUI will take over the Ministry of Education and Science. Jovana Trenchevska of SDSM will be Minister of Labor and Social Policy, and Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska of SDSM will take over the Ministry of Culture.
Admirim Aliti from Alternativa will be Minister of Information Society and Administration, and Xhemail Cupi from Alternativa is the candidate named for the new ministerial post without portfolio in charge of the diaspora.
In Kovachevski’s new government, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs remains to be Fatmir Bytyqi of SDSM, and Slavica Grkovska of SDSM will be Deputy Prime Minister for Fighting Corruption and Crime.
Nilkola Tupanchevski (SDSM) will be at the helm of the Ministry of Justice. Current Minister Oliver Spasovski (SDSM) remains in the Ministry of Interior.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani (DUI), Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski (SDSM), Minister of Finance Fatmir Besimi (DUI) and Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi (DUI) also remain in the government.
Goran Milevski of LDP in the SDSM coalition remains at the helm of the Ministry of Local Self-Government. The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, as well, is to continue with current Minister Naser Nuredini (DUI) at the helm.
Artan Grubi (DUI) also remains to be Minister of Political System and Inter-Community Relations, and Ljupcho Nikolovski (SDSM) will still be Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.
The vote on the new government should be held by Sunday midnight. mr/
Talks with Bulgaria will continue, but no one may or will dispute the identity and language of the Macedonian people, the PM-designate said.
“We have achieved our decades-long strategic goal of NATO membership and provided peace, stability, and a secure future for our children,” he noted.
“But on the road to the EU we face challenges that the two governments of North Macedonia and Bulgaria are determined to solve through dialogue and cooperation.
“Macedonian and Bulgarian citizens are more interested in the economy; cultural, educational and youth exchanges; and road infrastructure. These are the issues we need to cooperate much more on. History belongs to historians, but our identity issues are the foundations of our nation and our state.
“The Government has no dilemmas: No one may and no one will debate on the identity of the Macedonian people or the historically and scientifically confirmed specificity and uniqueness of the Macedonian language.”
The PM-designate also said North Macedonia would continue its good neighborly politics, strengthening cooperation with all neighboring countries.
In the parliamentary debate that followed, the opposition completely disagreed with the ruling coalition, with lawmakers clashing views on the legitimacy and the competence of the new cabinet members.
For the opposition, the new government would continue in the previous one’s steps and the new ministers would not be able to deal with any challenges.
“This Kovachevski government is a continuation of the corrupt Zaev government, which citizens punished in the elections. A government causing economic devastation, constant price hikes, job losses, and the economy tanking,” VMRO-DPMNE’s Aleksandar Nikoloski said.
Additionally, opposition MPs said the government wouldn’t be politically legitimate, both because the PM-designate didn’t run in any elections and because the ruling coalition lost the local elections.
Unlike the opposition, lawmakers from the ruling coalition said the new government ministers would maintain the positive course set by the previous government. Their legitimacy, they stressed, had been decided by the citizens in the 2020 parliamentary election.
SDSM’s Darko Kaevski said citizens in the 2020 early parliamentary election gave their strong support to the ruling coalition to lead the country and highlighted the newly increased parliamentary majority as proof of the government being on the right track. These views were echoed by SDSM’s Snezhana Kaleska Vancheva, who also said the new ministers were legitimate and deserved the MPs’ trust.
VMRO-DPMNE’s Nikola Micevski said there would be no difference between the previous and the new government.
“All attempts to portray the new government as some change or a fresh new energy crumble the moment you see the list of proposed ministers. The new government has the same content only in slightly different packaging,” Micevski said, adding that “very soon all incompetence, crime, corruption and dysfunction will surface.”
DUI lawmaker Arbr Ademi said electing the new government would give the ruling coalition the green light to continue managing the energy and health crisis and improving citizens’ quality of life. “Let’s roll up our sleeves together and take the country to where it belongs, the big European family,” Ademi said.
He added that DUI members of government had achieved results that couldn’t be disputed. “While there were restrictions in the region and even some cities were left without light, [DUI's] Bekteshi said that there would be no restrictions. And it was so. A solution was found for the Skopje central heating, and the prices for the households did not increase,” Ademi said.
He added that at the height of the pandemic more than 60,000 jobs were saved, unemployment was down, exports were up, and DUI members had a vision of how the country could move forward and manage crises.
Alliance for Albanians’ MP Halil Snopçe, much like other opposition lawmakers, said the new government would not offer anything new, given it had old staff who either rotated or kept the same roles and were not held accountable for any scandals, corruption, or tragedies.
“We are a country with the highest corruption in Europe, and the minister who was responsible for the fight against corruption continues to be in your government. We gave 200 passports to drug criminals to travel freely, endangering the Schengen area. We had various scandals. Mijalkov enters and leaves the country whenever he wants, former Prime Minister Gruevski fled, Mr. Spasovski continues to be Minister of Interior,” Snopçe said.
He also said the court system didn’t work, laws were not implemented, there was impunity for people close to the government, and the Minister of Justice would remain in government.
Several opposition MPs said the country was headed for a snap parliamentary election. If the proposed government was elected, they said, it would be a short-term, ephemeral government.
VMRO-DPMNE’s Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said the biggest blow to the legitimacy of the government was the defeat in the local elections. She also wondered why Radmila Shekerinska was not going to remain at the helm of the Ministry of Defense.
“You keep mentioning NATO, but the Minister of Defense Radmila Shekerinska, who was a personification of NATO, is not on your list. I don’t know if she was dismissed or she left the post for personal reasons,” Siljanovska Davkova said.
In addition to Shekerinska, seven ministers are leaving the government, including Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. Nikola Dimitrov will no longer be Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs. Minister of Health Venko Filipche, Minister of Education and Science Mila Carovska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska, and Minister of Culture Irena Stefoska are also leaving their ministerial posts.
The current Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj of SDSM will be Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs. Slavjanka Petrovska of SDSM will be Minister of Defense. Bekim Sali from Alternativa will head the Ministry of Health. The current Minister of Information Society and Administration Jeton Shaqiri of DUI will take over the Ministry of Education and Science. Jovana Trenchevska of SDSM will be Minister of Labor and Social Policy, and Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska of SDSM will take over the Ministry of Culture.
Admirim Aliti from Alternativa will be Minister of Information Society and Administration, and Xhemail Cupi from Alternativa is the candidate named for the new ministerial post without portfolio in charge of the diaspora.
In Kovachevski’s new government, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs remains to be Fatmir Bytyqi of SDSM, and Slavica Grkovska of SDSM will be Deputy Prime Minister for Fighting Corruption and Crime.
Nilkola Tupanchevski (SDSM) will be at the helm of the Ministry of Justice. Current Minister Oliver Spasovski (SDSM) remains in the Ministry of Interior.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani (DUI), Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski (SDSM), Minister of Finance Fatmir Besimi (DUI) and Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi (DUI) also remain in the government.
Goran Milevski of LDP in the SDSM coalition remains at the helm of the Ministry of Local Self-Government. The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, as well, is to continue with current Minister Naser Nuredini (DUI) at the helm.
Artan Grubi (DUI) also remains to be Minister of Political System and Inter-Community Relations, and Ljupcho Nikolovski (SDSM) will still be Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.
The vote on the new government should be held by Sunday midnight. mr/ 
