Macedonian MPs to Vote on Gruevski's Cabinet

Macedonian parliament | Photo by: Balkan Insight

The vote on the new government is expected on Thursday, following what is expected to be a long debate with opposition parties.

Gruevski’s government will almost certainly win approval from parliament, as his centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party and its coalition partners hold over 70 of the 123 seats in the assembly.

“We will present all of our arguments as to why we think the government does not deserve support. We will not help them [the ruling parties] elect a new government,” opposition Social Democrat MPs said ahead of the debate and the vote.

On the eve of the session, Gruevski added another name to his proposed cabinet. A new minister-without-portfolio in charge for attracting foreign investments will be Bill Pavleski, born in Macedonia but now living in the United States.

The proposed cabinet contains few other new names. Instead, many of the current ministers have either been kept in place or rotated to different positions.

Gruevski is retaining the biggest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, as his key government partner. The DUI first joined Gruevski’s government after the 2008 elections.

In the new platform, Gruevski identifies three major goals: NATO and EU accession, boosting the economy and intensifying the fight against corruption and organized crime.

He also pledges to nurture ethnic coexistence in the country in which one-quarter of population are ethnic Albanians.

Gruevski was mandated to form a government after his party did best in June 5 early elections. This will be his third government in a row since he came to power in 2006.