BELGRADE (Sputnik) — The formally approved interim government is formed by four major political forces — the ruling VMRO DPMNE party, the Social Democrats (SDSM), the Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), and the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA). In July, the rival political forces agreed to hold a new round of national parliamentary elections, which have been repeatedly postponed. On Wednesday, the four sides agreed to form a transitional government and hold elections on December 11.
According to the Macedonian Nova TV, the lawmakers approved the members of the interim Cabinet, in particular, appointing SDSM's Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, and Labor Minister Frosina Remenski. The government will be headed by VMRO-DPMNE's Emil Dimitriev.
The broadcaster said that the election campaign was due to start on November 21, and is due to stop on December 10.
The political crisis in Macedonia began in 2015 as the opposition accused the ruling conservatives of intercepting telephone conversations of some 20,000 people, including police officers, judges, journalists and diplomats. It resulted in the agreement reached last year between the most influential parties in Macedonia, under which then-Prime Minster Nikola Gruevski resigned in January, the parliament was dissolved, and early elections were announced, on April 24 June 5, but were cancelled.
