Democratic Party of Albanians

VMRO-DPMNE is the absolute winner of yesterday's local elections in the Republic of North Macedonia, according to the latest data announced tonight on the website of the State Election Commission, Macedonian media reported.

What no one imagined was that Ahmeti's DUI was promoting a profound conceptual and ideological redesign, in effect, becoming a green party.

Party with history of surprises

The head of DUI, Ali Ahmeti gives a speech during the commemoration of the killed NLA fighters on May 5, 2021. Photo DUI

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Macedonia this year decided against holding a traditional banquet to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the historic 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord which ended a short-lived conflict that year by granting more rights to the country's ethnic Albanians.

The heads of North Macedonia's main political parties met at the presidential palace in Skopje on Tuesday and agreed to postpone the early elections, which were originally slated for April 12.

The modalities for the postponement and a new election date have yet to be determined, however.

An opinion poll published on Monday by the International Republican Institute, IRI, a US-based democracy development organisation, suggested that North Macedonia's main ruling Social Democrats enjoy a very slight popularity advantage over their bitter rivals, the right-wing opposition VMRO DPNNE party.

The reshuffle proposed by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Tuesday is the first since the election of his government last year, and will see two small ethnic Albanian parties join the ruling coalition, boosting its support in the assembly.

The Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, which controls two MPs in parliament, will get one ministerial post and one deputy minister.

The coalition will be joined by two MPs of the Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, and three MPs aligned with a faction of the BESA party led by Afrim Gashi, BIRN reported.

The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, is already in the government.

Talks aimed at broadening support in parliament for Zoran Zaev's fragile government in Macedonia have entered their final phase, and the outcome should be known within the next few days or next week.

The leaders of Albanian parties in Macedonia - now part of the government led by Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev - gathered on Wednesday in Skopje to make sure the so-called "Albanian platform" becomes part of the new government's agenda.

Amid the ongoing delay in forming a new government after the December 11 elections, an opinion poll published on Monday suggested that if the polls were repeated, the ruling VMRO DPMNE party and its bitter rival, the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, would win almost equal support, as they did two months ago.