Skopje, 27 November 2023 (MIA) — А leadership meeting in the Parliament next week will decide the spring election date, according to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Political System and Inter-Community Relations Artan Grubi in a TV appearancе.

Speaking in TV24's Studio 10 show, First Deputy PM Grubi said he expected that a consensus would be reached on May 8 as the date for holding both the presidential and the parliamentary election at the same time.

Asked about the reasons for the simultaneous vote, Grubi said it was not at the request of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE but because of prevailing public sentiment.

"This was our decision," he said. "We saw that citizens also expect the elections be held together so we don't waste people's money or energy.

"VMRO-DPMNE think they have a better chance of winning the elections, which I would not agree with. No government mandate during VMRO-DPMNE was fully completed, so it's not like they care about the budget or any citizens' demands and expectations," he said.

Grubi described it as a tragedy that VMRO-DPMNE did not want to have "a Przhino government," saying this was telling of what would happen if VMRO-DPMNE won the elections.

"A first Albanian prime minister was not required by the Przhino government or a caretaker government, but the then prime minister [Zoran] Zaev said he would step down before the elections to make way for a fair political competition. The Przhino government is an agreement and violating agreements comes at a political cost," Grubi said.

He reiterated that he would not be caretaker prime minister. He also said the post would not be given to any of the current government ministers from the ranks of DUI, either.

He said the name of the caretaker prime minister would be announced by DUI leader Ali Ahmeti after upcoming talks with coalition partners.

"It would be nice if we had a lady, a madam [prime minister], so we'll see, maybe the public will be pleasantly surprised," Grubi said in response to a question if a woman would be named caretaker prime minister. mr/