The planned vote for no confidence in the Zaev Government was called off today, after an opposition member of Parliament, Kastriot Rexhepi from the BESA party, was apparently kidnapped. Rexhepi was one of the 61 signatories to the petition to remove the Zaev Government, and he was in contact with his party until after midnight on Thursday morning. But he did not show up in the Parliament for the 11h vote.

After frantic hours of searching for him, a comment was published on Rexhepi’s Facebook account, in which he, or somebody with access to the account, states that he had a change of heart, after being contacted by US and EU officials.

Considering the strong signals from our strategic partners, the US and the EU, that have been communicated to me by a senior diplomatic representative, that there is a great chance of beginning EU accession talks in December, I decided not to attend the parliamentary session where a decision would put in question our vital national and state interests, the message, ostensibly from Rexhepi, states.

The session of Parliament was broken off indefinitely, due to lack of quorum. After several delays, Deputy Parliament Speaker Fadil Zendeli said that the Parliament can’t begin deliberations with just 60 representatives present, and said that work will resume later in the day, if 61 representatives are in.

The event in December that is mentioned is the possibility that some kind of new concessions Zaev makes to Bulgaria, by accepting Bulgarian positions regarding Macedonian national history and identity, would get this country to lift its veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks. Rexhepi is a former consular employee of the Dutch Embassy in Macedonia, and this was noted by many commentators – especially given that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was in Macedonia for a meeting with Zoran Zaev yesterday.
VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski arrived in the Parliament as the push to vote for no confidence hit a snag, and compared Rexhepi to the late MP Amdi Bajram, who similarly sabotaged a vote of no confidence in the Georgievski Government in 1999, implying that Rexhepi has been bought out. But hours later, Albanian opposition leaders Kasami and Ziadin Sela continued to raise alarm, saying that there is no word from Rexhepi, and that the possibility of his kidnapping should not be discounted.

We are concerned, all we have from him is a Facebook post, and there is no word from him. I don’t know if he is safe or not. The very fact that we are talking about a representative of the people and he is not present here in the Parliament or hasn’t given a statement… the members of Parliament must not be blackmailed. Top priority at the moment is that Rexhepi is found safe, Sela said.

The Parliament was supposed to vote on the proposal for no confidence in the Zaev Government, that was submitted by VMRO-DPMNE, the Alliance of Albanians, Alternative, BESA and Levica parties. Their petition contained 61 votes – the bare minimum needed for the vote to succeed and Rexhepi was necessary for its success.  Kasami added that he is in contact with the police and considers Rexhepi missing, and his Facebook statement – inauthentic. Kasami campaigned together with SDSM in the last general elections in 2020, but had a falling out with Zaev and especially DUI party leader Ali Ahmeti during the local elections in which he won the mayoral seat in Tetovo from Ahmeti’s candidate. This fight led BESA to leave the coalition and side with the opposition, giving it the 61 votes it needs.

Hours later, a video message was issued in which Rexhepi is seen reading for a pre-prepared text, and making similar points to the previous Facebook comment.

The stability of the state and the peace and welfare of our people must be prized above all. Bilal Kasami (BESA party leader) and others should not worry about me. I’m safe, I’m on the right side, on the side of the Albanian people and of the citizens of Macedonia who want peace, stability and democracy. I’m with EU and NATO, and not with the anti-Albanians, Rexhepi says in the video.

https://english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/video-appears-showing-the-missing-member-of-parliament/

BESA leader Kasami repeated his claim that Rexhepi is clearly being pressured by somebody to make these statements and demanded that the police locates him and releases him.

On the other side of the political divide, DUI party official Artan Grubi – another former employee of the Dutch Embassy in Skopje – said that Rexhepi was motivated by his “pro-EU, pro-NATO and pro-friendship with the US convictions” to withdraw himself from the push to bring down Zaev and Ahmeti. “I know him, he was my colleague, and his heart sleeps in Brussels and Washington”, said Deputy Prime Minister Grubi.

As it became clear that Rexhepi will not be allowed to appear before the Parliament, around 22h the opposition left the building, hoping that by abandoning their push to hold a vote of no confidence, Rexhepi will be released.

I hope we see him alive and well, and see where he is. We know nothing about him except from this Facebook message, we haven’t seen him in person, if he is well. We don’t know if he has been kidnapped or held against his will, or if he willingly fled from the Parliament. If he were here, his vote would have been decisive to bring down the Government, or he could have split the Parliament 60 – 60 and spared us all this shame for our country. If the Government thinks that this outcome is a political triumph for them, they are very much mistaken. This is a humiliation for our democracy and the values which Rexhepi mentions in the Facebook post, said VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said. The opposition bloc now demands that early elections are held as soon as possible.

Zoran Zaev announced his resignation after most of his candidates lost the local elections to VMRO-DPMNE. But as days went by with no actual resignation, VMRO-DPMNE took the initiative to demand a vote of no confidence. After this, Zaev declared that he is postponing his resignations and will remain as Prime Minister until he can stabilize the ruling coalition and ensure that an SDSM candidate is elected as Prime Minister after him.

Bulgaria elects a Parliament and President on Sunday and if there is a clear majority this time, it could engage in talks with Macedonia. It’s understood that Zaev would be more open to accepting Bulgarian demands than a VMRO led Government, but his numerous concessions so far have only increased the demands from the Bulgarian side, for which he was punished at the local elections, and was pushed to announce his resignation as Prime Minister and SDSM party leader. Even if Zaev remains as Prime Minister until the end of the year, his mandate is spent and it’s unclear if he could push some kind of new treaty through Parliament.
Macedonia is also out of coal, due to Zaev’s green policies and mismanagement of the REK Bitola coal mine, forcing it to turn to very costly electricity imports. If Zaev remains Prime Minister, but loses the majority in Parliament (with Rexhepi on his side, the legislative would be split 60 – 60) he could face severe problems in passing the 2022 budget, which requires 61 votes.

In 2019, during the push to rename Macedonia, the Zaev regime imprisoned three opposition members of Parliament for “terrorism” and filed charges against a group of other opposition representatives or their family members and friends. These tactics, along with hefty bribes, “persuaded” eight members of Parliament elected on the VMRO-DPMNE ticket to vote for the imposed name change. The three representatives charged with “terrorism” were released by the court on the day of the vote, in a move that was clearly coordinated with the Government. Today, hours before the session of Parliament was scheduled to begin, police raided the home of VMRO-DPMNE representative Jovan Jauleski, over an alleged campaign finance violation, in a clear attempt to prevent him from coming to Skopje for the vote.