IBNA reports that Zoran Zaev will replace at least six ministers in his Government, after promising a purge of the most corrupt officials in a bid to bolster support for his SDSM – DUI coalition in the presidential elections. The purge became politically challenging for Zaev, as the DUI party refuses to give him free rein in changing DUI members of Government, prompting open questions aimed at Zaev if he is in control of his Government, and at one point whether he can even keep using the word “broom” he used initially to describe the purge.

All coalition partners are free to comment on what is happening. in the end, we are all participating in something which props up the majority in Parliament. This Rachomoniade of statements we are hearing from top DUI officials will hae to be substantiated in the end, Zaev said, responding to the daily challenges coming from DUI, and using a word derived from Kurosawa’s 1950 film classic known for its complicated plot and intermingled characters.

Besides DUI, Zaev is seen as unable to purge the SDSM members of Government who come from different party factions, mainly the “urban wing” led by Radmila Sekerinska, which is opposed to Zaev’s more rural wing of the party.

Zaev was pressed to respond after DUI member of Parliament Artan Grubi accepted his challenge and said that he will have to purge all ministers who have failed in their work. DUI is targetting several ministers from Zaev’s wing of the party, as well as Labour and Welfare Minister Mila Carovska who enraged the Albanian party when she publicly raised allegations about its corruption.

Xhevat Ademi, another DUI member of Parliament, called for the removal of Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angusev, who had a number of corruption allegations raised while in office. “We should begin with Angusev”, said Ademi.

Zaev responded by reminding the DUI representatives who is the Prime Minister.

I hold the mandate. The members of Parliament can vote in Parliament, or not vote. When I submit my proposals to Parliament, Artan Grubi will be a member and he and his party group will say what they think about the proposals, said Zaev.