Northern Macedonia: The motion of censure, the reactions and the minority government

The motion of censure against the government of Zoran Zaef submitted by the opposition fell into the void, due to the lack of a quorum at the session of the Parliament of Northern Macedonia, which was convened yesterday with the motion of no confidence as the only item on the agenda.

MPs from the ruling coalition parties abstained from the meeting and only 60 MPs were present in the House of Representatives – all belonging to the opposition, supported the motion of censure, but with this number it was impossible to have a quorum for the meeting, resulting in Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, after a long break from the sitting, to announce shortly before midnight that it was not possible to consider the motion of censure and vote on it and therefore the government continues its work.

Late last night, the opposition MPs also left the meeting.

The Parliament of Northern Macedonia has 120 seats.

“Drama” with an Albanian MP

Opposition MP Kastriot Rexhepi, from the small Albanian BESA party, was absent from the opposition.

“The process of the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration is one of the main goals of me and the BESA movement. Given the current political situation with the resignation of Prime Minister Zaef and because of the process and the strong messages from strategic partners, the US and the EU, which I was told by high-ranking diplomats that the country has a good chance of getting a date for the start of accession negotiations with the EU, I decided not to attend this parliamentary session, which will call into question a vital goal of the country. “I, a conscientious Member of Parliament, came to a difficult decision, guided by the interests of the people and the country, which does not need a political crisis at this important time,” Rexhepi explained.

Opposition parties, including BESA, have even questioned the “kidnapping” of Kastriot Rexhepi, wondering if his life is in danger.

However, Mr. Rexhepi himself, an unexpected person of the day, in a videotaped message assured him that he is well and safe and that he will appear in public after, as he noted, the threats he receives from people in his own faction disappear.

The small BESA party has three deputies. Until last week, he was part of Zoran Zaef’s governing coalition, but withdrew from it and sided with the opposition’s motion of censure against the government.

Reactions

Aleksandar Nikoloski, the vice-president of the largest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, shortly before the end of the parliamentary session, while the opposition MPs were already leaving, demanded that early parliamentary elections be held as soon as possible, judging that this choice is the best for the country.

Mr Nikoloski argued that a climate of political instability had been created, as he emphasized that the government of Zoran Zaef was now a minority government and did not have the “legitimacy” to exercise power.

For his part, Jovan Mitrevski, the parliamentary representative of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDSM), said that VMRO-DPMNE leader Christian Mickovski should not look for an alibi to justify the failure of the motion of censure as the opposition said. , he bears full responsibility for this development. Mr Mitrevski also said the government would soon increase its seats and power in parliament – hinting that one or more lawmakers from the opposition parties were preparing to move to the government camp.

A new motion of censure against the government may be tabled after three months, unless it has the support of a majority of Members. In this case, a motion of censure may be tabled at any time.

Minority government

Zoran Zaef, however, probably does not feel particularly “happy”, since he is currently leading a minority government. The coalition under the Social Democratic Party (SDSM) has 43 deputies; 15 deputies are held by Ali Ahmeti’s Albanian DUI party and one by the pro-government Albanian Democratic Party. In all, the ruling coalition parties hold only 59 seats in parliament.

The opposition has 60 deputies: the coalition under VMRO-DPMNE 44, the coalition of Albanian parties Alliance for Albanians-Alternative 12, BESA 2 (three with Kastriot Rexhepi, but it is not clear which position he will take in the future) and the Levica party (“Left”) 2 deputies.