International Representatives on New Government
We will not interfere with the composition of the new government. That is the job of the mandate-holder and DUI should behave constructively whether it will be part of the government or in opposition. This was the message that US Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic delivered to the DUI leader Ali Ahmeti at their meeting on Monday in the party seat. According to unconfirmed information, yesterday she visited the VMRO-DPMNE seat as well, but it is not known whether she urged for the negotiations with DUI to continue. Sources from DUI claim that the ambassador agreed with them that the talks between VMRO-DPMNE and DUI should continue, but they didn’t want to say if they received support for their position that the talks must end with an agreement for a coalition. Ahmeti took the opportunity to personally complain about the “unprincipled coalition between VMRO-DPMNE and DPA, which was made to ensure one more MP for the Macedonian party”. DUI issued a press release after the meeting saying that Ahmeti assured Milovanovic that DUI will have a constructive role in the future as it did in the past four years. The OSCE Ambassador Carlos Pais also had meetings with the VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski and Agron Buxhaku, a senior DUI representative, who told Pais that the rules of democracy are universal and they should apply equally everywhere. DUI didn’t reveal what Pais’ position on the interrupted talks was.
In another development, in an interview for BBC in Macedonian Nicholas Whyte from the International Crisis Group said that the tactics which DUI uses for entering the new government will not bear fruit. “I think that the tactics used for getting in the government are not helpful and will not convince anyone that they are the adequate government partner. I have to say that in this stage I cannot see how they would be part of the government coalition,” Whyte pointed out. Asked whether there is some kind of threat or political incorrectness if DUI remains in opposition, Whyte said that there should be no risk if some people are in the government and others are not. “Everyone should accept that in democracy sometimes you win and sometimes you lose the elections. It must be clear that if everyone is committed to peaceful methods of political functioning, that means that certain actions and rhetoric are ruled out,” he added. Whyte further said that the issue of Kosovo’s status shouldn’t be linked with the inclusion of DPA and DUI in the government and with the stability of Macedonia.
In another development, in an interview for BBC in Macedonian Nicholas Whyte from the International Crisis Group said that the tactics which DUI uses for entering the new government will not bear fruit. “I think that the tactics used for getting in the government are not helpful and will not convince anyone that they are the adequate government partner. I have to say that in this stage I cannot see how they would be part of the government coalition,” Whyte pointed out. Asked whether there is some kind of threat or political incorrectness if DUI remains in opposition, Whyte said that there should be no risk if some people are in the government and others are not. “Everyone should accept that in democracy sometimes you win and sometimes you lose the elections. It must be clear that if everyone is committed to peaceful methods of political functioning, that means that certain actions and rhetoric are ruled out,” he added. Whyte further said that the issue of Kosovo’s status shouldn’t be linked with the inclusion of DPA and DUI in the government and with the stability of Macedonia.