Parliament adjourned this evening after the initial discussion on the proposal to reshuffle the Government and include the Alliance of Albanians in the ruling coalition. Arben Taravari’s party is set to take several key posts, such as Justice and Healthcare, in exchange for its 8 votes in Parliament.

SDSM and DUI hope that the addition of AA to the coalition will bolster their crumbling majority. SDSM is having a quiet faction developing while DUI leader Ali Ahmeti is faced with an open challenge by a group that controls at least three seats in Parliament.
But the coalition haggling broke against a small Albanian partner – the Alternative party – which only joined the coalition a little over a year ago. The Alternative lost its seats in favor mostly of AA, and decided to leave the coalition, which will reduce the majority by 3 or 4 votes. The small DS party led by Pavle Trajanov also announced that it is leaving the coalition today, taking its one vote with it, meaning that the coalition will add little to its slim majority, and possibly add nothing, if the addition of AA escalates the fight in DUI.

Safije Sadiki Shaini, member of Parliament for the Alternative party, angrily rebuked Prime Minister Kovacevski for his ungratefulness and for violating their coalition agreement, when the Alternative helped him become Prime Minister in late 2021. “We helped you out when the Parliament was divided 60 – 60 and at a time when the European perspective of the country was dead. Many people approached the Alternative then, asking us to join the coalition, and our actions helped Macedonia and Albania get dates to open EU accession talks”, Shaini said, after her party was unceremoniously dumped from the coalition to make way for the larger Alliance of Albanians.

VMRO-DPMNE welcomed Pavle Trajanov’s decision to leave the coalition concluding that the ruling majority is crumbling and is only held together by grift and promises to the remaining coalition partners that they will get a larger share of the on-going corruption. VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski accused AA leader Taravari of making a suspicious real-estate deal, where he bought a house in a pricey part of Skopje for just 150.000 EUR. According to Nikoloski, this was likely one of the sweeteners that Taravari received to join the coalition. “A square meter in that area is 1000 to 2000 EUR, and Taravari bought it for 200 to 500 – if the money were paid out at all. The Anti-Corruption Commission needs to investigate this deal”, Nikoloski said.