Skopje, 24 October 2023 (MIA) — If VMRO-DPMNE votes for the constitutional changes in Parliament, it will be given the chance to choose the date of the next elections, Foreign Minister and DUI vice president Bujar Osmani said Tuesday.

Speaking to the press after his opening address to the OSCE Cyber/ICT Security Conference held in Skopje, FM and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Osmani said this was a fair offer on the part of the governing coalition.

"If they approve the constitutional amendments, we will let them decide when to hold the elections.

"Whenever they want. Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, right after the constitutional amendments are approved.

"I think this is a fair offer on our part," Osmani said in response to a reporter's question about VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski's proposal to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections at the same time, between two major religious holidays next spring.

If the main opposition party does not vote for the constitutional changes requred for the country to continue its accession negotiations with the EU, the elections will be held as scheduled, either separately or at the same time, Osmani said.

"As for the scheduled dates, holding the elections is a matter of technical and logistical nature rather than political observations. This offer is a political observation. Let them vote for the constitutional amendments, and we will let them decide the date of the elections — whenever they want — both for the presidential and the parliamentary elections," Osmani said.

Whether the elections should be held together or apart, he added, was to be decided by political consensus.

Osmani declined to comment on the government coalition partner Alliance for Albanians' calls for his ouster. It was important, he said, to have good interpersonal relations and cooperate professionally as government ministers and as coalition partners. mr/