No-confidence motion against gov't of North Macedonia fails

Opposition parties in North Macedonia failed to secure enough lawmakers for a no-confidence motion voting on Thursday in the parliament to oust Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his cabinet.

Hristijan Mickoski, head of the main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, was confident he would gather the 61 votes needed in the 120-seat parliament to pass the motion.

According to local media, Mickoski reached the number of MPs needed to file the no-confidence motion when The Besa Movement, a small ethnic Albanian party, shifted its support from the ruling majority to VMRO-DPMNE.

However, on Thursday, Kastriot Rexhepi, a lawmaker from the Besa party did not show up in the parliament and declared on his Facebook account that he would not take part in the vote, adding that "the country's stability, peace and well-being of the people should be the paramount importance for all."

Late Thursday, Aleksandar Nikoloski, deputy leader of VMRO-DMPNE, told local reporters that the only solution to the political crisis is to hold snap elections.

He added that VMRO-DMPNE MPs were heading home before the voting deadline expires at midnight but the no-confidence motion will not be withdrawn.

According to Media Information Agency, the no-confidence motion had been filed due to the fact that Zaev did not resign from his post despite his announcement following his failure in the local elections held on October 31.

Meanwhile, Zaev, leader of the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) party, told local reporters late Tuesday that his party has decided that he stays temporarily in his post in order "to help stabilize the parliamentary majority."

During last year's general elections, SDSM had a narrow victory and formed the government with a multi-party coalition.

The next parliamentary elections are slated for 2024. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )

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