by Aleksandra Dukovska in Skopje
Members of the Assembly of North Macedonia have initiated the legislative procedure to amend the Constitution, a necessary step to progress towards EU integration. With 70 votes in favor and 47 against, the MPs have opened the floor for discussions in the next 10 days. According to the Constitution, a two-thirds majority is required for the Assembly to proceed to the next phase of the process.
The opposition says the Government has no power and further claims that the proposed changes are under “Bulgarian dictate.” Members of the Parliament from the VMRO-DPMNE and their coalition partners requests an early elections. The entire block of the Albanian parties, including government partner DUI voted in favor for the inclusion of Bulgarians into the Constitution.
The further steps are whether to speed up the path toward the EU or to “face isolation.” Prime Minister Kovachevski says, the proposed changes are “developed in Skopje.”
Negotiation framework agreed in July 2022 is a document of the European Commission and supported by the EU Council. Overall, the EU accession of North Macedonia after the amendments to the Constitution is supported by the EU and the US.
Kovachevski addressed the issues of the Macedonian identity, language and history “are protected.” For the sake of the young generation, he called to a vote.
After the debates on the proposal concluded, the Assembly Speaker Talat Xhaferi said he would further inform the MPs and the public about when the session will continue.
After 10 days, the Assembly should vote in favor or against the opening of the procedure, which requires 80 votes. For the draft amendments the Government needs 61 votes. Then the public debate should follow, and for the final voting the Government will need 80 votes.
What is the Government proposal?
The intervention in the Constitution refers to adding parts of nations to the Preamble and articles 49 and 78 of the Constitution, when listing the parts of nations in the country.
In the formulation: “The citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Macedonian people, a part of the Albanian people, the Turkish people, the Vlach people, the Serbian people, the Roma people, the Bosniak people, and others,” after the term “Bosniak people,” a comma is placed, and the following is added: the Bulgarian people, the Croatian people, the Montenegrin people, the Slovenian people, the Jewish people, and the Egyptian people.
Accordingly, a change has been made in the Committee for Relations between Communities to preserve the parity of representatives in the Parliament.
Aleksandra Dukovska 