In an unruly debate in the Parliament, Artan Grubi from the DUI party called the opposition Albanian leader Ziadin Sela “a coward” for being beaten up during the 2017 incident.

Sela sustained serious injuries in the incident which the SDSM and DUI parties sparked in the Parliament, when they held an irregular vote for a new Speaker while protests were on-going. Grubi insisted that his DUI party is the greater protector of Albanian minority rights in Macedonia, citing the war which the NLA/UCK terrorist group started in 2001, before reorganizing into the DUI party.

Where were you in 2002 when we fought for Albanian rights? You were nowhere, you are just cowards. You had one chance to show courage and it failed. You were beaten up here, in this Parliament because you are a coward and you left your people to dry. This is why you were smacked, Grubi told Sela.

DUI is seen as losing ground among ethnic Albanians, as both its SDSM coalition partner, but also opposition Albanian parties like Sela’s AA party, are muscling in on what was traditionally DUI’s base of support. Grubi insisted that the party delivered on Albanian national issues in Macedonia, and got the first Albanian Speaker of Parliament, amended the Constitution to rename Macedonia, imposed the Albanian language as a second official language and on other issues.