Zoran Zaev, leader of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), said on Wednesday that the political agreement reached last summer, known as the Przino Agreement, is dead and buried. Zaev reacted after the ministers and deputy ministers appointed from his SDSM party in order to help prepare the elections were removed from Government once the elections were cancelled.
"The Przino agreement is dead because the most serious link in this agreement was setting up a Government to prepare the elections. The agreement was ruined by the one-sided decision on the part of the leaders of VMRODPMNE and DUI, Nikola Gruevski and Ali Ahmeti. We are all aware that the only way out of the crisis is complicated, and that is in having credible and legitimate elections. Anything else leads to an unwanted scenario that can happen to Macedonia", Zaev said during the promotion of a book on Wednesday.
SDSM had two technical ministers, leading the Interior and Labor and Social Policy Ministries, and five technical deputy ministers under a complicated power sharing agreement in a Government with VMRO-DPMNE and DUI. The appointment of these Government members and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski were tied with specific deadlines leading toward the elections. But, SDSM refused to take part in the elections on the original date set for April 24, citing lack of preparations, and later again insisted that the next vote, set for June 5, is also postponed. VMRO-DPMNE and DUI voted to cancel, not postpone the elections, but also voted to remove SDSM's members from the Government.
VMRO-DPMNE representatives said that it is now up to SDSM to decide when they are prepare to take part in elections, after which talks on forming a power-sharing Government can take place.