VMRO-DPMNE is proposing Nake Culev, the former director of the Intelligence Agency, as the interim Interior Minister, the Kurir news site has learnt. The move comes after the opposition party’s first candidate, colonel Dragan Kovacki, was rejected by the ruling SDSM party which cited a constitutional clause banning officers from running security departments.

Culev works in the Intelligence Agency, the smaller of the two security services in Macedonia, which is under the authority of the President. He ran the Agency between 2013 and 2017, and then served as assistant to the director. Culev has completed training in the United Kingdom, Germany, Bulgaria and other European countries, under the auspices of the George Marshall center, the NATO Defense College and other international institutions. He is also a lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of the Foreign Ministry and taught at the Academy of Judges and Prosecutors. He was also First Secretary of the Macedonian Embassy in Ankara.

The interim Government is expected to be appointed tomorrow. It’s task is to prevent the ruling parties, primarily SDSM, from abusing the public institutions for political purposes in the pre-election period. The Interior Ministry is seen as crucial in this regard.