Alternative enters the Government more and more certain: The Ministry of Information Society is the department that will be upgraded
The leader of Alternative met with the Albanian Prime Minister yesterday and informed him about the negotiations with Zaev. "If the start of negotiations depends only a little on Alternative's decision to join the Macedonian government, that is the least Alternative can do for Albania," Gashi wrote on Facebook.
The Ministry of Information Society and Administration will be the upgraded ministry that will have to be headed by Alternative, if today the Central Council of the party decides to enter the Government, government sources say for "Free Press". It is expected that Alternative will receive a visa for Secretary General Bekim Sali to be Minister of Health, a request that Afrim Gashi's party insists on being part of the government, and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has not yet decided whether to give the chair to Venko Filipce. Alternative today rescheduled the meeting of the highest party body for entering the Government due to the funeral of the 45 victims of the bus accident in Bulgaria.
As "Free Press" has already announced, Alternative will accept two instead of three ministerial positions, as it originally requested, if the competencies of one ministry (in this case for the information society) are strengthened to the rank of deputy prime minister. The second condition is to "get" the Ministry of Health.
DUI also gives in
The expectations are that Alternative will become part of the government. Gashi boasted on Facebook that he had met with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and briefed him on negotiations with Zaev. He stressed that if the start of negotiations between Macedonia and Albania with the EU depends only a little on the decision of Alternative to join the Macedonian Government, that is the least that Alternative can do for Albania.
If the agreement for joining the Government with the information society and health departments is confirmed, Alternative will realize the request from the first meeting Zaev - Gashi, which is except SDSM, and DUI to cede a department for balance in the Government and equal sharing of responsibilities. The information society department is headed by Jeton Shaqiri from DUI.
First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi said in an interview with TV 24 that DUI has no objection to ceding portfolios for Alternative to enter the Government.
- We are ready to share responsibility with Alternative to integrate the country in the EU. We want to do that together, to extend a hand of cooperation, to merge our programs and to implement them - said Grubi.
Although he announced that first there will be a reshuffle of the Government, still, according to our sources, Zaev's announcement for a new prime minister and a new government will be realized. The first step after the agreement for Alternative to enter the Government will be the appointment of new directors in the companies that will belong to Afrim Gashi's party. The ministers and deputy ministers of Alternativa will wait for the election in the Parliament, ie they will be elected after the election of a new leader of SDSM, who should be the new prime minister-designate for the election of the new government. Until then, Alternative MPs will support the current government from outside. For the deputy ministerial positions that Alternative should get, the ministries of education, labor and social affairs, culture, agriculture remain in play…
Mickoski insists on early, Grubi says it is not time
While waiting for the final decision whether to consolidate the ruling majority with four MPs from Alternative, the president of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski for "Alsat" reiterated that early parliamentary elections are needed because the system is rotten and dysfunctional, and how long remains this coalition in power, the more the people will lose.
- Zaev now says that he would remain Prime Minister until he reached an agreement with Alternative or Bulgaria, and in fact he should be honest with the citizens and say that he is in the lap of Ali Ahmeti and Artan Grubi and that he is blackmailed, which was practically the condition he to remain Prime Minister for these 18 months - says Mickoski.
According to him, as things stand, given the constitutional deadlines, early parliamentary elections could take place in the spring.
Opposite Mickoski, Grubi is adamant that although DUI suits him, Macedonia does not need early parliamentary elections regardless of the outcome of the December summit, although he expects us to receive a date for the start of negotiations with the EU.
- We need stability to fully implement the Prespa Agreement, the Agreement with Bulgaria and to make maximum use of European funds. At the moment, we are not for early elections, but for the realization of the Government's projects - said Grubi.
The first deputy prime minister announced the possibility of holding simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections in the spring of 2024, because in May are the elections for head of state, and in December the parliamentary elections.