North Macedonia swears in centre-left government

North Macedonia’s parliament on Sunday approved a new coalition Cabinet led by the Social Democrats, with two ethnic Albanian parties as junior partners.

The Cabinet won the confidence vote 62-46 in the 120-member legislature. It enjoys somewhat broader support than the previous government of Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev.

The difference is the ethnic Albanian Alternative party which joined the center-left coalition and was rewarded with three of its four lawmakers getting Cabinet posts.

North Macedonia’s new prime minister, Dimitar Kovachevski, 47, was a deputy finance minister in the Zaev government. Zaev, also 47, stepped down after heavy losses in local elections last October.

The center-right opposition VMRO-DPMNE party voted against it, insisting that only a new election would give the government legitimacy.