The governing cabinet of Zoran Zaev has faced criticism as a result of the large number of ministries given to Albanians, proposed by BDI, three of which have pending trials for abuses with their public office in the past.
Zaev has proposed 25 ministries of which 17 belong to the Macedonian Social Democratic Union (SDSM), 6 belonging to the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) and 2 ministries belong to the Alliance for Albanians. The criticism relates to the fact that prior to the elections, Zaev had stressed that he would reduce the number of ministers to less than 20.
The leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski has criticized the new cabinet proposed by Zaev.
“This is a cabinet which has been created in a rush, to satisfy the appetites of the heads of political parties, without taking into account their professionalism and past. Many of them are accused of corruption affairs and violations in the course of their official duty”, Gruevski said.
Political analyst, Xhelal Neziri says that the number of ministries has increased to please the coalition partners and fractions within the party.
“This is not a good thing for a new government because there should have been a more solid government and with a smaller number, in order to send a signal that this government would be efficient and is not spending budget money for the needs of these ministries”, Neziri said.
But for the university professor, Nikola Dujovski, the number of ministries is not important. What counts for him is what the new government will do.
“A chance should be given to this government and see what it will do during the first 100 days. Of course, there is criticism about the large number of ministers and the ministers proposed by BDI, who are under investigation”, Dujovski said.
The ministers of BDI who have been targeted are a minister without portfolio, Ramiz Merko, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Bujar Osmani and Minister of Ecology, Sadulla Duraku, who have pending trials for abuse with their official post in the past. But Zaev has sent to the Special Prosecution a request to verify the criminal records of the ministers.
Parliament is expected to hold a session today where the new government will be voted. According to the Rulebook, this session may last until Wednesday evening, when the voting will take place.