Agriculture Minister Cvetan Tripunovski kept his post - but the question the opposition raised after the vote is a different one: did he stay because he did the job well, or because he has cover from the top? The interpellation over his work failed in parliament, 21 votes in favor and 62 against.

The interpellation was filed by MPs from SDSM and the Coalition for a European Future, demanding the minister's resignation and an investigation into his work. According to the opposition, the ruling MPs voted against "on a direct order from Mickoski" - and that, they say, is the whole point: a minister saved by the prime minister, not by results.

And the figures the opposition cites are not trivial. Subsidies for farmers, they claim, have fallen by 40 million euros. The purchase price of milk dropped while the retail price rose. Support for tobacco was cut from 100 to 80 denars for first class. Livestock purchases fell by 46.2 percent year-on-year. Added to this is an alleged scandal with the IPARD program and a 50,000-euro bribe.

Tripunovski rejected the accusations, calling the interpellation "unbearable." The government, of course, defended its decision. But for the farmer watching the purchase price of his milk drop while the price in the shop climbs, the political arithmetic of 62 against 21 means little.

The question left hanging isn't whether Tripunovski will fall - it's who answers for the numbers. Because an interpellation can fail by a vote, but you don't vote on falling subsidies and purchase prices - those are felt in the field.