Talat Džaferi was elected as the prime minister of the technical government of North Macedonia, as the first Albanian to hold that position.
Jaferi will lead the technical government for 100 days until the elections, scheduled for May 8.
In his address to the Assembly, Jaferi said that regardless of how long he will be at the head of the Government, he will do everything to fulfill his obligations, in accordance with the Constitution and the expectations of the citizens.
"The first priority will be the organization of parliamentary and presidential elections in an orderly and democratic manner. For me as a representative, regardless of whether I will lead this Government for one day or 100 days, I will carry out this duty, this responsibility and the trust that has been given to me, as I did with the other challenges that were in front of me," said Xhaferi.
Assembly Speaker Jovan Mitreski scheduled the session after Džaferi, otherwise from the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUI), submitted the work program and the composition of the transitional government in which the largest opposition party VMRO DPMNE will have two ministers and three additional deputy ministers.
The largest party in the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM) of former Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, proposed Džaferija as the mandate holder of the interim government, to which, according to the Law on Government, the post belongs.
In the government's program, Jaferi states that the top priority will be the successful organization of free, fair and democratic first-round presidential elections on April 24 and the second round of presidential and parliamentary elections on May 8, then the continuation of all processes resulting from the initiated accession negotiations with the EU and accelerated European integration .
All the ministers from the coalition governments of SDSM and DUI Dimitar Kovačevki will remain in their positions in the government of Talat Džaferi, except for the minister of internal affairs and labor and social policy, which is given to the opposition VMRO DPMNE, as well as three additional ministers - for finance, for agriculture and for the information society and administration.
According to announcements, the first deputy prime minister will be the vice prime minister for European affairs, Bojan Maričić (SDSM), instead of Artan Grubi (DUI), who remains the minister for the political system and relations between communities.
The leader of the opposition VMRO DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, reiterated that his party's deputies will not vote for Talat Xhaferi's technical government, even though it submitted proposals for technical ministers.
In North Macedonia, 100 days before the parliamentary elections, a technical government is formed in which the largest opposition party gets two ministers - for internal affairs and for labor and social policy, and three supplementary deputy ministers - for finance, for agriculture and for information society and administration.
Parliamentary elections will be held on May 8, Wednesday, together with the second round of presidential elections. The first round for the election of the president of North Macedonia will be held on Wednesday, April 24.
Who is Talat Jaferi?
Talat Dzaferi was born on April 15, 1962 in the village of Forina in Gostivar.
He graduated from the military academy in Belgrade and Sarajevo. From 1985 to 1991, he served as a senior officer in the People's Army of the former Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, from 1992 to 2001, he was an officer in the Army of North Macedonia.
During the 2001 armed conflict in North Macedonia, Dzaferi joined the ranks of the National Liberation Army, which fought for the national rights of Albanians in this country.
In the parliamentary elections of 2002, Džaferi was elected for the first time as a deputy in the Parliament of North Macedonia, from the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI).
From 2004 to 2006, he served as Deputy Minister of Defense.
In the parliamentary elections of 2008, Xaferi was re-elected as a deputy, while in 2013 he was appointed as the Minister of Defense in the Government of Nikola Gruevski.
From 2014 to 2016, he again served as a deputy in the Assembly of Macedonia, while on April 27, 2017, he was elected president of the Assembly of North Macedonia. Jaferi held this position until the appointment of the mandate holder for the formation of a technical government.
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