Skopje, 15 March 2023 (MIA) — First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Political System and Inter-Community Relations Artan Grubi said he had no aspirations to be the first Albanian prime minister of North Macedonia. Instead, he wanted to be remembered for the construction of the Corridors 8 and 10-d, the Skopje – Blace highway and the Prishtina – Skopje – Tirana connection, he said in a TV appearance.

Interviewed by Kosovo’s TV Dukagjini, First Deputy Prime Minister Grubi said the Albanian candidate for the next prime minister would be proposed by DUI leader Ali Ahmeti. He also voiced his certainty that Ahmeti would make the right choice.

“This is Ali Ahmeti's project to break taboos. The time has come to overcome prejudice against electing an Albanian prime minister,” Grubi said.

He said a politician of Albanian ethnicity should lead the government in the last 100 days before the next election, in line with the 2020 coalition agreement between SDSM and DUI signed by then Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Ahmeti.

“According to the coalition agreement we reached with Zoran Zaev, he was to step down 100 days before the end of his term to be replaced by an Albanian prime minister,” Grubi said, claiming that current prime minister Dimitar Kovachevski promised he, too, would honor the agreement.

Grubi's statement came after Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told a DUI gathering in Skopje’s Chair Municipality that "in a few months, an Albanian will be prime minister" of the country.

The statement was interpreted as hinting at a snap election, considering that the parliamentary election is set to take place in 2024.

However, according to SDSM and DUI sources familiar with the matter, government partners had not discussed holding an early parliamentary election. 

SDSM sources said Osmani's statement may have been related to the DUI party rift and a message to its so-called "fiery group" of members. mr/