VMRO-DPMNE saved the governor election

The fifth governor is the first bearer of the monetary authority in the country selected in the period of cohabitation, so that the act of voting for her subtly drew the relations between the political factors in the country

With respectable 81 votes in favor and none against or abstained, yesterday the Parliament elected Anita Angelovska-Bezoska as governor of the NBRM, the same day the term of the current holder of this post Dimitar Bogov expired. The new – fifth governor  since Macedonia’s independence is not only the first woman of the head office of the monetary authority, but the first one that has been selected during a period of cohabitation between the government and the head of state. Probably that is why the act of her choice subtly drew the relations between the political factors in the country.
The election of Bezoska was supported by 23 MPs from the VMRO-DPMNE coalition who coordinated before the meeting, according to unofficial information, in an atmosphere of disagreement over the suspension of President Gjorge Ivanov’s first proposal – the re-election of Bogov. Although VMRO-DPMNE’s parliamentary group said they decided to unanimously support Bezoska, only half of the opposition MPs voted in the session, while others were noted that they were not present, or that they did not vote. Among those who did not participate in the voting are many known names, such as Antonio Milososki, Boris Zmejkovski, Vladimir Gjorcev… as well as former coordinator Ilija Dimovski. That day earlier, he told our newspaper that he would vote “against” – not because of Bezoska, but because, according to him, the procedure was violated by the fact that the proposal for Bogov was not previously put to vote.
However, if they were not 23 votes from the VMRO-DPMNE coalition, Bezoska’s candidacy could have failed because the majority would have only 59 votes, while the election of a governor would require a minimum of 61 votes. But at yesterday’s session, it was noted that some of the most exposed DUI MPs did not appear at the governor election, after DUI’s plan to stand behind the former and longtime minister from their ranks Fatmir Besimi for the helm of the monetary authority fell through.

After Bogov withdrew his candidacy, DUI and SDSM apparently reached an agreement to support Ivanov’s new candidate – with whom, on the other hand, the DUI members are particularly in bad relations. Some of the most exposed MPs of DUI, starting with Ali Ahmeti, then Artan Grubi and Xhevad Ademi … did not attend yesterday’s vote, in contrast to Speaker Talat Xhaferi and coordinator of parliamentary group Ejup Halimi who voted “in favor” of Bezoska. According to unofficial information, the wings around Ademi strongly opposed the election of Bezoska, explaining that the governor’s office belonged to Besimi.
MP Ademi from Tetovo was unavailable to reply to the information that there was a disagreement in within DUI over the election of governor.
The absence of some of the DUI MPs, as well as of some of the new coalition partners of SDSM, could have led to this governing position remaining vacant, if VMRO-DPMNE, with half of its MPs, did not assist in the election of Bezoska. The presence of SDSM leader Zoran Zaev on yesterday’s coordination of his party’s parliamentary group, held shortly before the announcement of the “Bribe” verdict, is considered a kind of signal that the outcome of the vote for a new governor was uncertain until the last moment.
The transfer of the governor’s office is scheduled for today, when Bogov will hand over the office to Bezoska, who was his proposal for the vice governor about a year ago, when he was elected to the position with 97 votes. Bezoska was Vice Governor at the NBRM in the previous seven years, from 2010 to 2017. From 2004 to 2010, Angelovska-Bezoska was chief economist at the NBRM. At the same time, she was engaged in the International Monetary Fund in Washington, the Department of Macroeconomic Policies in European Countries and the Department of Fiscal Policies. Angelovska-Bezoska participated in several IMF negotiation missions for signing agreements with member states. From 1996 to 2004 she worked in several positions in the Ministry of Finance. In 2015, she received the title Doctor of Science at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana on the topic “Coordination of monetary and fiscal policy in Macedonia”.

Aleksandra M. Mitevska