Macedonian Parliament Approves Cabinet Reshuffle, New Protest Expected

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski arrives in the parliament after resignation of two of Gruevski`s closest allies, in Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedoni, 13 May 2015. Photo: EPA

The Macedonian Parliament approved on Wednesday the reshuffles in the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, which were necessitated after the resignations of the interior and transport ministers.

Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska and Transport and Communications Minister Mile Janakieski resigned late on Tuesday together with the Director of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK) Saso Mijalkov.

Their resignations came following the shooting in Kumanovo over the weekend, which claimed the lives of eight police officers and fourteen armed men.

These developments came amidst a series of protests demanding the resignation of PM Gruevski and his government, led by the opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, who revealed controversial wiretapped conversations.

The parliament elected Mitko Cavkov as the new Interior Minister and Vlado Misajlovski as the new Transport and Communications Minister, Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) reports.

Prior to the election of the new ministers, PM Gruevski praised the outgoing ones, who resigned in an attempt to defuse the heightened political tensions in the country.

Prior to becoming Interior Minister, Cavkov headed the Bureau for public security and has a lifelong career in the ministry.

Misajlovski served as the director of the Road Agency and has worked to prepare major highway construction projects.

Opposition leader Zaev hurled the latest in a series of accusations against the government, which is expected to result in a new protest in Skopje on Wednesday evening.

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