North Macedonia’s <PERSON>, the prime minister who ‘has done the most to serve his country’ · Global Voices
<PERSON> leaving the official building of the government of the Republic of North Macedonia. Photo by Government of Republic of North Macedonia, Public Domain.
After having announced his decision on October 31, <PERSON> submitted his resignation as North Macedonia’s prime minister on December 22, thus triggering the constitutional procedures for the resignation of the prime minister and government, and assignment of the mandate to form a new government. A day later, the parliament confirmed his resignation at a plenary session.
In the text of his resignation published on the government website, <PERSON> noted he undertook this “logical step” as a way to “accept responsibility” for his party's poor results at the local elections in October. He also resigned as leader of the ruling party, announcing his retirement from politics. After <PERSON>'s resignation, President <PERSON> gave the mandate to the new representative of the established parliamentary majority to form a government.
While we are looking at the constitutional procedures and assessing the leadership of <PERSON>, it is worthwhile mentioning that he is the first prime minister in the history of North Macedonia to resign while his party was still in power (Actually, <PERSON>, another Social Democrat, resigned as party leader and prime minister in 2004, but this was to allow him to seek election as president of the country.)
<PERSON> was a very interesting politician and one who had attracted the public eye. He was first elected as party leader eight years ago as a part of a team. He was the candidate for leader, while the current minister of defense, <PERSON>, was the candidate to be his deputy. The duo led the party during the political crisis of the wiretapping revelations, the negotiations of the Przhino Accords and the early parliamentary elections in 2016. <PERSON>'s election promises were to restore democracy and freedom, bring the country into NATO and the EU, and improve the quality of life of its people.
<PERSON> and his VMRO-DPMNE had a strong hold on the government and institutions; it was an authoritarian regime that the European Commission described as a captured state. 363
For every citizen who had lived a day in such fear, or the nearly 20,000 whose phones were wiretapped, bringing back democracy and freedom was of utmost importance. On this, his primary promise to make North Macedonia more democratic and freer, he delivered the most.
After it became clear, in January 2017, that <PERSON> was unable to form a government, his party orchestrated persecution against civil society and activists, with a long list for “execution” containing up to 170 most prominent political and civic leaders and opinion-makers. He disallowed any transfer of power and supported the storming of parliament on April 27, 2017. The angry mob attacked and beat scores of people, effectively making <PERSON> pay with his own blood to be elected as prime minister.
Having witnessed how <PERSON> used ethnic tensions to raise the fear of ethnic Macedonians, <PERSON> realized that this fear could only be decreased with further unification in society and if the country’s safety and security were guaranteed. The best guarantee for that was unification under the same goals as NATO and EU Accession, and genuine inter-ethnic integration, which led to the new government policy of “One Society for All.” He further supported this by speaking to all citizens and ethnic groups, presenting candidates for mayors in traditionally Albanian municipalities, while promoting politicians, Social Democrats, representing minority ethnic groups to high posts in the party and in the government. It was in many aspects a pioneering approach for North Macedonia and showed <PERSON>'s ability to see the bigger picture.
His political instinct as opposition leader to establish friendships and build alliances was successfully transformed into a vision to which he dedicated his first three years as prime minister, resolving the open issues of the country. It was lucky for him that this vision was met halfway by former Greek Prime Minister <PERSON>. The Prespa Accord was an effective resolution of the name issue with Greece, but it was also the foundation for North Macedonia to accede to NATO and fulfill one of its national priorities almost three decades after its independence.
<PERSON>'s first attempt at friendship building was with Bulgaria and produced the treaty on friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation, which he signed with his Bulgarian counterpart <PERSON> on August 1, 2017. The Friendship Agreement speeded up the strengthening of bilateral relations in the period from the signing of the agreement until mid-2019 and facilitated trade, but it has yet to bear fruit, as Bulgaria is currently blocking the EU Accession of North Macedonia.
One final attempt at friendship building was tied to his faith and religious background. 409