The political landscape in North Macedonia has become tumultuous with the submission of resignations by five ministers from the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), leaving Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski yet to address the situation.
Despite it being some days since their submission to the government, no decision has been made as Kovačevski is on a short annual vacation with his family outside the country.
The lack of clarity from the government on how it intends to handle the resignations, whether they will be accepted or referred to the Macedonian Parliament for consideration, has left many questions unanswered.
Current laws governing the government and executive positions do not account for “resignations in waiting” or “resignations with a deadline”, as presented by the DUI ministers.
Even if the resignations are processed, they cannot be reviewed immediately due to the ongoing vacation of the members of parliament, which may last until August 18, when constitutional amendments are scheduled for discussion.
The catalyst for the ministers’ resignations is a series of proposed constitutional amendments aiming to include the Bulgarian minority in the preamble. These changes are based on a “French proposal” to address historical and identity-related disputes with Bulgaria. Failure to approve these amendments could lead to Bulgaria once again blocking North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations.
The opposition party, VMRO DPMNE, has stated that it supports the amendments under certain conditions, including their enactment only after North Macedonia’s EU accession and the formation of a broader government excluding DUI, which it accuses of corruption and organized crime.
On the other hand, the ruling parties, the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) and the Democratic Union for Integration, argue that all conditions set by VMRO DPMNE have been met, and they urge the opposition to support the constitutional amendments.
VMRO DPMNE’s leader, Hristijan Mickoski, has stressed that the ministers’ resignations must be irrevocable and criticized the delay in processing them as a mere political maneuver to buy time.
The ruling SDSM has accused the opposition of being against the country’s European future and a better life for its citizens, which, according to the party, can only be achieved through EU integration. Failure to support the constitutional amendments would lead to isolation, SDSM argues.
Even the Albanian opposition parties, the Besa Movement, the Alternative, and the Democratic Party, have dubbed the ministers’ resignations as tactical moves to gain political advantage. They believe the resignations aim to divert attention from allegations of corruption and organized crime within DUI, including its leader, Ali Ahmeti.
