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| Talat Xhaferi accepts the mandate of forming the technical Government from Stevo Pendarovski |
For the first time in North Macedonia, a government will be led by an Albanian. Talat Xhaferi, until recently the Speaker of the Parliament, will take on the responsibility of leading the caretaker government. Xhaferi has submitted to the Assembly the composition and program of the caretaker government, which will be tasked with organizing both parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May 8.
The session for the vote on the first Albanian Prime Minister and his government is expected to start around 11:00 on the following day, January 28. The Parliament will debate the program and cabinet of Talat Xhaferi, with the expectation that the caretaker government will be voted on and approved by midnight on Sunday.
On January 26, President Stevo Pendarovski handed over the mandate to Talat Xhaferi for the formation of the new caretaker government. The opposition in North Macedonia, based on the Election Law, will also be part of the caretaker government, aiming to oversee and conduct the electoral process.
In a national address, Ali Ahmeti, the leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), called it a historic day for the Albanians.
"This day is historic because we are becoming a state with an equal society. We will take responsibility to lead," said Ahmeti.
This will be the third caretaker government following the 2015 agreement, aiming to prevent manipulations in elections by appointing opposition representatives in the government cabinet.
Opposition Does Not Vote for Talat Xhaferi
The Macedonian opposition, led by VMRO-DPMNE, stated that they would not vote for the election of Talat Xhaferi, accusing him of "numerous legal violations" during his tenure as the Speaker of the Parliament. Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, reiterated that his party stands firm on this decision.
"He is the person who, from the beginning until now as the Speaker of the Parliament, has committed many actions against the constitution and the law, despite all the initiatives raised being rejected by the courts and manipulated prosecutors. But one day when those institutions are freed from political shackles, we will witness what has been done during this period of over six years, starting from his election in 2017 until now. I expect the continuation of bad policies under the leadership of the government led by Xhaferi. Although we have said that it cannot get worse than what has happened so far, now we expect even worse," said Hristijan Mickoski, President of VMRO-DPMNE.
However, the opposition's abstention from voting does not prevent the formation of the new government, as the parliamentary majority has the necessary number of 61 votes for the approval of the new government.
How Was the First Albanian Prime Minister Promised?
In the parliamentary elections of 2020, the Democratic Union for Integration, led by Ali Ahmeti, campaigned with the slogan "For the first Albanian Prime Minister," with their candidate being jurist and former politician Naser Ziberi.
Since the parliamentary elections were won by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Zoran Zaev, who led SDSM at the time, became the prime minister. To fulfill the promise made by BDI, Zoran Zaev and Ali Ahmeti, in the agreement for a coalition government, agreed that in the last 100 days of the government's work, the prime minister would be appointed from a candidate proposed by BDI. Ahmeti proposed Talat Xhaferi.
Composition of the Caretaker Government
VMRO-DPMNE will lead two ministries, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, along with three deputy minister positions with special competencies. Other changes in the new government are expected, especially in the position of the First Deputy Prime Minister. Now, instead of Artan Grubi from BDI, Bojan Marichik from SDSM will hold this position. He currently serves as the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs.
The First Deputy Prime Minister, according to the SDSM – BDI Agreement, will be Bojan Marichik, who will also remain as the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs.
The Macedonian opposition will hold ministerial positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, and supplementary deputy minister positions in the Ministries of Finance, Information Society and Administration, and Agriculture.
VMRO-DPMNE has proposed Panche Toshkovski as the candidate for the Technical Minister of Interior, Gjoko Velkovski as the candidate for the Technical Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Elena Petrova as the candidate for supplementary Deputy Minister for Finance, Cvetan Tripunovski as the candidate for supplementary Deputy Minister for Agriculture, and Stefan Andonovski as the candidate for supplementary Deputy Minister for Information Society and Administration.
The names of Ministers and Deputy Ministers from SDSM have also been announced. Mitko Bojmachaliev, the Chief of the Cabinet of Oliver Spasovski, is the candidate for supplementary Deputy Minister of Interior. For ministerial positions in culture, the environment, transport, defense, and agriculture, the current ministers have been proposed.
For supplementary Deputy Ministers from SDSM, the proposed candidates are Viktorija Avramovska – Madiq for the