Skopje, 1 October 2024 (MIA) -- Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in his remarks on his government's first 100 days in power once again stressed the ruling coalition was stable despite differences in opinion on some issues. The coalition partners were united around strategic goals, he told a press conference Tuesday.

According to PM Mickoski, the VMRO-DPMNE coalition's first 100 days in power were successful. He said he was proud and happy everyone who had been given the chance to prove themselves largely did so regardless of their political party affiliation.

"Our coalition has a two-thirds majority," the prime minister said.

"This is not a coalition fighting for its stability.

"Harmony and team spirit rule in our coalition. Of course there are differences in opinion at times, which does not mean we disagreee on strategic issues."

Mickoski asked the opposition to be constructive. He said it should rival the parties in power by offering policies aimed at raising the national living standard.

"There are people saying VMRO-DPMNE has made too many concessions to its coalition partners," he said.

"There are also people saying VMRO-DPMNE has devalued its coalition partners.

"I hear all these voices coming from the opposition bloc, one party trying to survive on the political scene, another party using nationalist rhetoric in its efforts to come back to the political scene."

"By sending these messages, they think they will sow discord and distrust among the coalition. I would like to disappoint them and tell them that not only have they not succeeded but their behavior has strenghtened our team spirit. We cannot go back to these politicians who spent decades in Macedonian politics to only be remembered for their corruption and betrayals," he continued.

"I will not go into why DUI failed to achieve any strategic goals over the past 21 years or why SDSM tried to stay in power by telling lies. What I can say to these two parties is that we need a strong and constructive opposition we will compete against through policies improving our citizens' living standard."

Asked to comment on complaints from the public that appointing new people at the helm of some institutions was not happening fast enough, Mickoski said appointing new people should not be rushed. It was better to take one step in the right direction, he said, than to take three steps forward and then five steps back.

"Let's not talk speed of appointments because many times in the past, the public found faults with institutions quickly becoming partisan," he said, pointing out that party members used to be appointed to high posts instead of professionals.

"I absolutely agree with this. You don't need a rash response to show some sort of strength. Our government has shown we can continue all that was good from the previous government, which was the case with foreign investments," the PM said. mr/