Tetovo, 2 December 2022 (MIA) — The Alliance for Albanians’ acting president Arben Taravari said his party was not negotiating to become part of the government but would nonetheless vote in favor of including the Bulgarian community into the Constitution.

“There are no negotiations. If there were, we would appear in front of you and say it,” Taravari told the press at the AA headquarters in Tetovo where he announced he was officially running for party leader.

“We will support the constitutional changes to include the Bulgarians, the Bulgarian ethnic community in Macedonia, in the preamble, regardless of whether we are part of the government or the opposition. We have said that since day one,” he said.

“When there are negotiations, we will let you know and we will be as transparent as possible,” he said, adding that the AA would continue to be constructive while also undergoing “a complete reorganization.”

Asked to comment on a statement by an Alternativa member that the AA would be DUI's "spare tire" if it were part of the government, Taravari said: “We are not DUI’s spare tire. Of that I can assure you. Someone in the government is the tire, but I’d rather not comment on this further.”

In response to a question on whether their support for the constitutional changes would also include a request to remove “the language of the 20 percent” label for the Albanian language, Taravari said he expected the other parties to show respect to the Albanian community.

“Our idea was and continues to be that those percentages and numbers should be gone and it should say ‘the Albanian language’ instead. Most political stakeholders, and I'm talking about the bigger Macedonian parties, understand this. They have already said publicly that they did not mind replacing the percentage label with ‘the Albanian language.’ We expect them to show us respect. So let's see this through and make it part of the Constitution,” he said.

Earlier this morning, Taravari said the AA’s goal was to shake up the Albanian bloc of parties in the next elections.

“Our goal regarding the Albanian bloc in the next elections is to make the change we have long been waiting for. Albanians in the country deserve someone to replace DUI after its 20 years in power, and only the AA can do it. I hope we succeed,” Taravari said. mr/