POLITICS Parliament lacks quorum for session after opposition MPs’ no-show

Parliament is lacking quorum of a minimum of 61 MPs after a lawmaker of the ruling majority has tested positive for the coronavirus and results are pending for another one, SDSM MP Jovan Mitreski said at the beginning of Monday’s 30th session.

Mitreski, who is the SDSM coordinator in Parliament, accused the opposition lawmakers of unstatesmanlike behavior after refusing to attend the session.

“The opposition has other interests along party lines and the institutions and the country are the ones to suffer the consequences,” he stated after Parliament was expected to discuss amendments to the Law on Medicines in relation to the COVID-19 vaccination.

Reacting to his remarks, VMRO-DPMNE MP Nikola Micevski said that the no-show of opposition MPs came as a result of ‘undemocratic behavior of the majority in Parliament.’

“As long as you refuse to change your treatment of the opposition and as long as you refuse democratic debates, you will come across resistance in line with the tools that are at our disposal,” the coordinator of the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group said.

After Micevski and Mitreski’s speeches, Speaker Talat Xhaferi terminated the session citing lack of quorum.

The session will resume once adequate conditions are in place. The session’s agenda, among other things, included a no-confidence vote against Deputy PM for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov, filed by the opposition.