Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – The new parliamentary majority faces growing calls to deal with the forces that are stopping it from forming a government. Five months after the December 11 elections the announced formation of a new, opposition-led coalition government in Macedonia seems like a daunting task, containing many risks.
Despite having a majority in parliament, where 67 out of 120 MPs back the Social Democrats, SDSM, the opposition faces an institutional blockade on the part of the President and the former ruling VMRO DPMNE party.
President Gjorge Ivanov shows no signs of awarding the mandate to form a government to the Social Democrat leader, Zoran Zaev, despite his apparent constitutional obligation to do so.
At the same time, VMRO DPMNE MPs have continued filibustering parliament’s constitutive session, to stop MPs from electing a new speaker – against the background of threats of violence on the streets if the opposition tries to unblock the logjam.
Some observers maintain that, despite the many risks, it is time for the new majority to take the initiative and launch a “democratic offensive” to break this blockade.
They say Macedonia risks falling into even deeper crisis if nothing is done.
Source: Balkan Insight