Skopje, 5 June 2024 (MIA) - VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told a press conference Wednesday that the negotiations for a new government are finishing up, and he expects President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova to hand him the mandate for the formation of the government on Thursday.

“The negotiations are in certain ways finished, in terms of establishing the government bodies talks have finished over the third echelon as well, they need to be confirmed once again today, so I expect President Siljanovska to hand the mandate tomorrow to the clearly defined majority, which was defined with the election of Gashi as Speaker of the Parliament,” Mickoski said, adding he expects the future government to be elected before the final deadline defined by the legislation and Constitution.

Asked about the distribution of posts in the new government, the VMRO-DPMNE leader said he doesn’t wish to talk about names, adding that they will be known soon. 

Regarding the laws related to the local self-government, if there are cases of officials moving from the local to the central government, Mickoski said interventions will be done in these laws as well in order to avoid having to hold elections twice in nine months.

“The Worth It coalition announced legislation that would intervene in the Law on Local Self-Government, so that we don’t burden the citizens again by holding new elections if there is migration from the local to the executive government, only to then hold [the regular local] elections again next year. Although, this might politically benefit us at VMRO-DPMNE, considering the ratings and results from the elections, I think we need to act responsibly towards the public and the citizens, and to avoid spending additional money by holding elections twice within nine months. If there are such cases of migration of mayors, we should intervene in the law so that the local councils can elect caretakers until the regular elections in 2025,” Mickoski said. 

Photo: VMRO-DPMNE/MIA Archive