Skopje, 3 September 2024 (MIA) — Afrim Gashi survived the vote to oust him as Parliament Speaker, with 21 MPs voting for his dismissal and 72 voting against, with no abstentions, during the no-confidence vote held in Parliament on Tuesday evening.

Lawmakers from the parliamentary majority of VMRO-DPMNE, the Worth It coalition and the ZNAM Movement voted against the no-confidence motion submitted by Levica. Levica and SDSM lawmakers voted for Gashi's ouster.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Gashi said the motion of no-confidence was politically motivated and based on Islamophobia and Albanophobia.

"This is not an interpellation against Afrim Gashi, but against the Parliament Speaker's religious affiliation. This is not an interpellation against exceeding the powers of the Parliament Speaker in terms of security, but against good neighborly relations and commitments in terms of the recognition of Kosovo. This is not an interpellation about the alleged violation of the Law on Languages, but because of the phobia against the Albanian language and the ethnic affiliation of the Speaker," Gashi said, urging MPs "to decide without any pressure, as you think is best for the country." 

Elaborating on the no-confidence motion, Levica leader and MP Dimitar Apasiev said it was based on seven arguments, although in the meantime, he added, Gashi had made three or four more scandals.

According to Apasiev, the no-confidence motion was submitted on the grounds of Gashi's violating the secularity of the state by leading a group prayer in Parliament; violating diplomatic security rules with the incident at the Skopje Airport involving Kosovo's President; suppressing the use of the Macedonian language in Parliament; violating rules for the use of state insignia; allowing MP Talat Xhaferi to hold incompatible offices; violating the legal and ethical provisions on anti-nepotism by including his wife in the state delegation to Washington; and violating the parliamentary Rules of Procedure regarding the work of the MPs.

Apasiev said Gashi had surpassed his predecessor Talat Xhaferi in scandal-making. Calling Xhaferi "a master of scandals," Apasiev said that Gashi had "made a barrage of scandals in 100 days" and became "a grandmaster of scandals."

VMRO-DPMNE MP Bojan Stojanoski dismissed the motion of no-confidence as being "out of touch with reality" and calling it "a desperate coalition product of the new coalition which consists of SDS, Levica and DUI."

SDSM MP Mile Talevski said SDSM would vote to oust Gashi and called on VMRO-DPMNE to join them and deliver on their election promise that all elected officials would be held accountable.

The ZNAM Movement's MP Pavle Arsovski said while mistakes were possible, the no-confidence motion was an attempt by Levica, supported through an informal coalition by SDSM, to score political points.

DUI's parliamentary group MP Talat Xhaferi said they would vote against ousting Gashi because "Levica's motion was on grounds of his ethnicity."

Twenty-one MPs spoke in no-confidence-vote debate, which began in the morning and was set to last no longer than one workday. nn/mr