Split in the DUI party

Writing for Kosovo online: Zeljko Sain, Politika's special correspondent from Skopje

The political scene of North Macedonia, since the very independence of the country from SFR Yugoslavia, is facing political pressures not only from external factors but also from internal party conflicts. However, this is not the end of state turmoil either, since it also exists within the political parties themselves. The biggest split can be seen in the most significant and largest Albanian parliamentary party, which has been in power for decades - both now, with the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, and before, with VMRO-DPMNE. It is about the party DUI - Democratic Union for Integration.

From the very beginning of the formation of the independent, autonomous, and sovereign Macedonian state - the Albanian entity had a significant role in the creation of the state and the formation of the government, primarily thanks to the support of the EU and the USA. Many Albanian politicians came from Kosovo and formed their own parties, which were significant political entities in the Macedonian executive and legislature. The DUI party has always been a part of the ruling structure and the bearer of the center of gravity of the scales that decides on state changes. The Albanian political factor has been proven to have a significant, often decisive role in the creation of political opportunities in the country. Let's remind, for example, that immediately before the last parliamentary elections, they set the condition that the Prime Minister should be elected from Albanian ranks.

The President of the Assembly - Talat Xhaferi - was elected from among the Albanian parliamentary parties. However, Albanian political wishes are for both the president of the country and the prime minister to be of Albanian nationality. During the next elections, whether extraordinary or regular, it is expected to form a technical, so-called Przino government, lasting 100 days, which could be headed by a prime minister from the Albanian parliamentary bloc. Judging by public speculation, that function could be performed by Altan Grubi, the Deputy Prime Minister, or Bujar Osmani, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Przino government, let's recall, was formed under the patronage of the USA and the EU at the time of the Color Revolution, when Victoria Nuland, the representative of the USA, was present in Przino, where the negotiations took place. It is determined by law that before each parliamentary election, a technical government is formed, which includes ministers from the opposition, primarily in the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

However, from the last election until today, a major split occurred within the largest Albanian political party, when the obedience to the leader of the DUI party - Ali Ahmeti - was canceled by the "Fire Group", headed by Izet Mexhiti. As a representative of the DUI party in the Sobranie, he took three MPs with him, at a time when changes to the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia are determining North Macedonia's path towards the EU or its isolation from Europe. However, Izet Mexhiti emphasized in his public appearances that all MPs who disagreed with the work of the DUI party under the leadership of Ali Ahmeti, Altan Grubi, and Bujar Osmani would vote for constitutional changes, and that they would not be the ones who would bring North Macedonia into isolation, since they all saw their country in the European family.

The split within the DUI party is not a surprise - it has been going on for a long time, since this government was formed, first under the mandate of Zoran Zaev, and now under the Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovacevski. Namely. The "Fire Group", led by Mexhiti, believes that Altan Grubi and Bujar Osmani, High Representatives of the DUI party, have stepped deeply into corruption and crime. On the other hand, this is a split and two currents in the party - new and old. On the one hand, there is Ali Ahmeti, who leads the military political wing of the DUI party, as its President and Commander of the Liberation Army in Macedonia, which also cooperated with the KLA, and who was in the main command staff for the liberation of Kosovo with Thaci at the head. On the other hand, Izet Mexhiti is the leader of the new intellectual political wing.

As is known, Ali Ahmeti was heard in Pristina before the Kosovo War Crimes Court, which has been moved to The Hague and whose employees and investigators are mostly from the USA, Canada, and the EU. At that time, he was accompanied by Grubi and Osmani, already elected members of the Government and in very important positions. Their presence was questionable - whether, as important officials, they could be accompanied by their party leader and member of the Assembly. That case, as we unofficially learned, has not been closed yet, because Hashim Thaci is on trial in The Hague.

Also, Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the largest opposition parliamentary party in North Macedonia, precisely because of corruption and crime, demands that extraordinary parliamentary elections be held in North Macedonia, as well as that DUI not be a part of the new government. In the conversation with Kovacevski, Mickoski did not agree with the Prime Minister's proposal to introduce VMRO-DPMNE members to the Government ahead of the change of the Constitution, because members of the DUI party and the current government have stepped deep into crime.

Let us also remind you that the USA has started to fulfill threats of sanctions for criminal and corrupt activities. Let us recall that US Secretary of State Blinken sent a warning message to Prime Minister Kovacevski in Washington that the US would start a tough fight against corruption and crime in the Western Balkans, which was confirmed for the public by the State Department's Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar. This move by the US was first felt by politicians from the ranks of the DUI party, and the mayor of Struga was singled out among the first. Such measures were surprising for the leadership of this party, since they always appealed to international friends, among them, above all, the USA.

In which direction the conflict within the DUI party will be resolved - it is quite uncertain, as well as what the role of this party will be after the new parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for the last quarter of next year, since criminal and corrupt activities can no longer be pushed under the "red carpet", especially since it is being walked by high officials of the USA, who, precisely because of the reign of corruption and crime, announced sanctions to all the countries of the Western Balkans.