Three and a half months following the elections and the MPs meet for the second time in Parliament, where the continuation of the constitutive session is taking place, at which the composition of the Commission for Elections and Appointments is to be voted on and the new president of Parliament to be elected, replacing Trajko Veljanoski.
The situation in the country is almost chaotic. According to SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, today in a shortened procedure, the new president of Parliament, DUI candidate Talat Dzaferi, is to be elected. However, MPs from VMRO-DPMNE demand withdrawal from the so-called Tirana Platform. At the same time the leader of VMRO-DPMNE travels outside of Macedonia, instead of participating at the constitutive session.
While a good part of the electorate was expecting today to be a day of the start of unblocking the political crisis, protests of members and supporters of VMRO-DPMNE under the slogan “For a Joint Macedonia” and against the Tirana Platform just do not stop.
Zaev announced a reform government, and Gruevski went out of Macedonia
The leader of SDSM, Zaev, in an interview last night on one of the national television stations, close to VMRO-DPMNE, was decisive in that in Macedonia there will soon be a reform government. He denied all rumors that in the coalition government with the albanian parties, in negotiating the future joint steps, that there would be a change in the Constitution, the flag and the coat of arms, and that there would be bilingual police uniforms. Zaev was categoric that despite the tailoring of the conspirations by his political rival Gruevski that Macedonia will alledgedly not exist, he said that “the only thing that will happen is that Gruevski will not be in power anymore”.
The seat of the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Gruevski, was empty today in Parliament. He and a party delegation, as the party has announced, have went to attent a Congress of the European People’s Party in Malta and will remain there for several days. But the team of the show “360 degress” published video footage of Gruevski’s arrival at the “Attaturk” airport near Istanbul.
Macedonia’s public is appaled also from the fact that Gruevski even after a year of his prime ministerial resignation is still taking center stage in the news of the national media close to VMRO-DPMNE, where boldly in front of the cameras he is demanding accountability from the resigning ministers.
According to experts, with this Gruevski is sending a clear message to the public that despite the forming of a parliamentary majority, he still has the intention of running the country!
Special Prosecutor’s Office opens new investigations
The Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) opened four new investigations for four persons. For those accused in the investigations under the working title “Board” and “Three-hundred”, there is reasonable doubt for abuse of power and illegal gains. The other two investigations “Total” and Tifani” refer to tax evasion. All investigations arise from the wiretapped conversations, some of which have been publically published.
Prosecutor Katica Janeva, on the other hand, on the International Whistleblower Day demanded greater protection of “whistleblowers”, that is, adopting the ammendments to the Law on Witness Protection, demands of the SPO submitted to the Parliment as of last year.
Sanctions for Macedonian leaders refusing to solve the political crisis?
The mediators of the European Union, as the “Financial Times” write, are warning that the Macedonian political leaders are risking sanctions, should they continue to block the new government and fuel inter-ethnic conflict.
“Ivanov recieved warnings for similar sanctions last year as well, when he preventivaly pardoned dozens of suspects, identified by the the Special Prosecutor, who is investigating allegations of abuses by the Government revealed on the wiretapped recordings. Gruevski was among those pardoned, before President Gjorge Ivanov withdrew the amnesty, faced with international condemnation”, writes the “Financial Times”.
The European “four”, Johannes Hahn, Eduard Kukan, Knut Fleckenstein and Ivo Vajgl have sent clear and direct messages following the meetings with the leaders of the parliamentary parties in Skopje, that the results of the recent elections have to be respected. They sent a message that “in one country, everyone has to recognize the parliamentary majority”, also referring to President Ivanov, who decided to stay in Hungary during that period.
Моnika Taleska
