NEWS OF THE DAY: Second day of parliamentary debate on Law on Census
Members of Parliament today continued the debate on the Law on Census, and both those from the ruling majority and from the opposition remained in the position their parties announced. VMRO-DPMNE MPs again expressed opinions why the Law should be withdrawn and the census postponed, while those from SDSM and other ruling parties remained to claim that there is no abuse and that there will be a census.
And while the ruling majority is at the opinion that the methodology is a secondary act that emerges from the law, with the census being conducted by the State Statistical Office, the opposition once again demanded withdrawal of the proposed text, without it being perceived as a defeat, but, as it was said, as a way for finding the best solution.
This is the second day of the debate that started yesterday, with the draft law elaborated in Parliament by Deputy Minister of Justice Agim Nuhiu.
STATEMENT OF THE DAY: Carovska denied Koteska’s disinformation: The Macedonian language group at the Faculty of Philology has neither been planned to be abolished, nor will it be abolished
“I stronly deny the claims of Jasna Koteska – I call for a stop to the spreading of disinformation! It has neither been planned, not will the Macedonian language group be abolished at the Faculty of Philology. This is a pure lie, the citizens should not succumb to these speculations”, denied Minister of Education and Science Mila Carovska through her Twitter profile, after previously professor Jasna Koteska stated an alleged “secret state coup”, that is, abolishment of the Macedonian language group at the Faculty of Philology.
CIVIL ACTIVITIES
Census – political or statistical operation?
In the context of the continuation of the parliamentary session where the draft Law on the census of the population, households and dwellings in the Republic of North Macedonia will be debated, in a shortened procedure, which will probably begin and perhaps end with obstructions by the opposition, a question of public interest arises as to whether it’s a matter of a statistical or political operation, or perhaps, statistical-political counting of the population.
At yesterday’s debate, it was demanded that the draft law is withdrawn, with the explanation that the ruling majority should first organise an intra-party and intra-state debate in order to find a consensual solution on how to conduct the statistical operation. If not, they will start an initiative for its annulling.
FLASH NEWS
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani within his official visit to Greece, met with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and with Alternate Minister of European Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis.
“Reforms in primary education should have been made a decade ago, and we are not in a hurry with the adoption of the new concept, but on the contrary, we are already late”, says the Ministry of Education and Science.
In the past 24 hours, it has been reported that a total of 412 positive and suspected to coronavirus patients are being treated in the covid centers in the hospitals across the country, announced the Ministry of Health.
Minister of Health Venko Filipce today stated that starting from the 21st of this month, the closing hours of hospitality facilities will return to 9.00 pm, while all other measures remain in force.
translation: N. Cvetkovska
