site.btaNorth Macedonia's Parliament Approves Cabinet Reshuffle

North Macedonia's Parliament approved the replacement of eight ministers in Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski's cabinet. After a nearly 12-hour sitting, the new ministers won the confidence of the 120-seat legislature with 69 votes in favour and none against or abstaining.

The reshuffle brings Jeton Shasivari of the coalition partner VLEN to the post of justice minister. Agon Ferati becomes minister for relations between communities, Borche Serafimovski of ZNAM takes over as minister of agriculture, Sasho Klekovski becomes minister of health, Gjoko Velkovski assumes responsibility for social policy, demography and youth, Ivan Stoilkovic takes over the local self-government portfolio, Sedat Sulejmani becomes minister of culture and tourism, and Erxhan Demir is appointed minister without portfolio.

The parliamentary sitting began around noon, when Prime Minister Mickoski justified the proposed changes by saying they were intended to bring new energy to the government, while thanking the outgoing ministers for their work.

Justice Minister Igor Filkov was dismissed with 83 votes in favour and none against or abstaining. Agriculture Minister Cvetan Tripunovski was relieved of his duties with 92 votes in favour. The dismissal of Health Minister Azir Aliu was backed by 80 MPs, while 85 lawmakers voted to remove Social Policy Minister Fatmir Limani. The proposal to dismiss Local Self-Government Minister Zlatko Perinski was supported by 87 MPs. Culture and Tourism Minister Zoran Ljutkov was dismissed with 91 votes in favour, while Minister without Portfolio Shaban Saliu was removed with 85 votes. The largest number of votes in support of a dismissal - 95 - was cast for Ivan Stoilkovic, who had served as minister for relations between communities.

During the debate, MPs questioned why the ministers were being dismissed if they had performed so well. Some argued that the coalition partner ZNAM stood to lose the most from the reshuffle, as it surrendered the justice portfolio, while the other coalition partner, VLEN, emerged stronger by gaining an additional ministry.

The debate became particularly heated after Mickoski nominated the new ministers, especially over Ivan Stoilkovic, who moved from the ministry for relations between communities to the local self-government portfolio. SDSM MP Mitko Trajchuleski said that Stoilkovic's appointment meant that the "Serbian World" had gained the post of "governor" over the country's 80 municipalities.

After a recess was announced, the SDSM parliamentary group held an extraordinary press conference, at which its floor leader, Oliver Spasovski, said that Stoilkovic had seriously insulted two opposition MPs. Spasovski also criticized Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi, accusing him of failing to respond appropriately to the incidents in the chamber.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski rejected the opposition's criticism, accusing SDSM of applying double standards in its attitude toward Ivan Stoilkovic, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in North Macedonia. Mickoski said that SDSM had treated Stoilkovic differently when it was in power.