site.btaNorth Macedonia's Largest Albanian Party Leader Calls for Early Parliamentary Elections

The leader of the largest Albanian party in North Macedonia, the Democratic Union for Integration, Ali Ahmeti, called for early parliamentary elections, along with the local elections in the autumn, the media in North Macedonia reported. Ahmeti delivered a keynote speech at a festive event celebrating the 23rd anniversary of the party's founding, held on Thursday in Skopje.

In his address to the party, Ahmeti emphasized that over the past two decades, the Democratic Union for Integration made it possible for Albanians in North Macedonia to become active participants in the decision-making processes at all institutional levels.

"We have become a threat to our opponents with our professionalism and training, and one of the obstacles for the current politicians is that they are afraid of us. Their claims that the Democratic Union for Integration is corrupt are not true. Do an inspection! Why are you afraid of an inspection? Let's open an investigation into the origin of the property of all politicians, into the privatization that took place in our country from 1991 to 2001. I am not saying to start with [the country's Prime Minister] Hristijan Mickoski, but to start with me," Ahmeti said.

Ahmeti criticized the ethnic Albanian coalition VLEN, which is part of Mickoski's government, for discrimination and for the removal of Albanians from government institutions in their mandate. He once again pointed to good interethnic relations as "the alpha and omega for peace, stability and prosperity of the country."