A day after the MKD.mk poll showed that his SDSM party lags far behind VMRO-DPMNE, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that he will not discuss holding early general elections. The poll showed SDSM lagging VMRO by more than 8 percent, which can translate into a difference of 10 seats in Parliament.
Speaking in New York where he just inaugurated the use of the imposed name “North Macedonia” at the UN General Assembly, Zaev said that he wants to “focus on the economy”. Zaev’s drop in the polls is seen linked to the number of major scandals which are plaguing his Government.
The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party demands early general elections in April 2020, and conditions any further talks on the controversial law on state prosecutors with a debate on elections as well. The regular elections should be held in December 2020, and according to the so-called Przino rules, Zaev would have to resign three months before the vote, and also give up the Interior, Finance and several other ministries to be run by the opposition. Zaev proposes elections in October 2020, which can be hardly seen as early elections.
I would not want to talk about early general elections before October 2020. Elections in October 2020 also count as early elections, Zaev told the Voice of America, insisting that elections are held only after the people feel what he promises will be positive economic developments tied to the expected NATO accession and the opening of EU accession talks.
Zaev invited VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski to talks next week on the prosecutors’ law. It’s unclear whether VMRO would accept another round of such talks if they are not paired with a discussion on the early election. A recent attempt to reach agreement on the law failed, and Zaev urged that the matter is resolved before October 15th, when the European Council should vote on whether to allow Macedonia to open the EU accession talks.
Comments are closed for this post.