Macedonia towards Early Election, Zaev Sépion Meets Gruevski Party

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev will not meet with VMRO-led leader Opposition DPMNE, Hristian Mickoski, regarding constitutional changes for the Prespa Agreement, which already clearly outlines the scenario of early parliamentary elections in Macedonia.

Macedonian media quoted a senior government official as stating that Zaev and his LSDM party do not intend to convince Mickoski and VMRO- MP at any cost DPMNE to vote on constitutional amendments. “We do not necessarily target a meeting of him with Mickoski”, the official was quoted as saying in question.

We're getting ready for elections because it seems like nothing will be done in the country”, he added.

The opposition leader said after Sunday's referendum that the name agreement with Greece is “dead”. Since the outcome of the vote was learned, the chief executive implied that the new elections are an opportunity for him at the table, but his coalition partners do not share the same opinion and insist that all mechanisms be exploited for the process to succeed through lawmakers.

Currently, the parliamentary majority in Macedonia has only 71 votes out of the 80 needed for the implementation of the agreement, and for the latter to pass, there will be nine opposition votes. What makes the situation even more difficult is the deep division of society into the so-called <x0patiote” and “Trade”. The publicisation had prompted the previous government under then VMRO-DPMNE chairman Nikola Gruevski and the same rhetoric following his successor, Mickoski.

In the case of early elections, parties supporting the agreement with Greece must achieve a two-thirds majority in Parliament, so that they can adopt constitutional changes without obstacles.