Alliance of Albanians leader Ziadin Sela accused the SDSM – DUI coalition of using the proposed changes to the law on the Special Prosecutor’s Office in order to protect themselves from criminal prosecution. Sela said that he will not vote for the law, or join Zaev’s coalition, and demanded early general elections instead.

I would support a law that would benefit the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. I would support a law that doesn’t amnesty criminals but helps us gradually build the rule of law, which is desperately needed. I will not support a law that only protects the political “bears”, Sela told Radio Free Europe in an interview.

Talks between SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE on the fate of the institution which was used to prosecute VMRO officials and bring Zaev to power have stalled for months, Zaev was hoping he could get the necessary votes to reach a 2/3 majority elsewhere, including from Sela, but the odds of this now look slim.

The opposition leader of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia left the door open to a coalition with the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party and insisted that he would not join Zaev and Ahmeti in their coalition, after the bitter experience of his brief stint in power.

Macedonia needs early general elections. We can change the course of events only through elections. All the counter-arguments, that there is no time for elections, that we need to focus on receiving a date to open EU accession talks, that is done to maintain the status quo. The main issues related to the EU integration regard the necessity of reforming the judiciary and therefore we are losing the date because DUI is part of the SDSM coalition and prevents real reforms, Sela said.