Macedonia Parliament Reconvenes Amid Crisis

Parliament has two topics on its agenda: The election of a commission for appointments, which was agreed on last Thursday between the political parties, as well as the election of a new speaker.

The new parliamentary majority comprising the main opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), and most ethnic Albanian parties, hopes to get the work done as soon as possible, which would pave the way for the new government to be swiftly elected.

Together they control 67 MPs sitting in the 120-seat parliament.

"We expect on Monday, and in the days to come, serious and stately conduct from the institutions who must respect the will of the majority of the citizens, and facilitate the election of a new speaker and of a new government!" said SDSM in a press release published Sunday.

The party once again urged their political rivals, the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party led by embattled former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, to stop obstructing the election of a new administration, which they say holds Macedonia hostage. Gruevski served as prime minister from 2006 for nearly a decade.

"We won't allow Macedonia to be stuck in further political crisis due to Gruevski and his associates' fears of change and facing justice - the new reform government will be formed soon" SDSM said.

Over the weekend, the country's main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), said that it would put forward its seasoned MP and former Defence Minister, Talat Xhaferi as the new speaker. It is expected that the SDSM will endorse this proposal.

Macedonia's has not managed to form a new government since early elections in December last year. They were held in the hope that a two-year-long political crisis...