The Macedonian opposition has announced the suspension of all contacts with the government of Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski regarding constitutional changes and other issues, stating that they will now focus solely on the demand for snap parliamentary elections.
According to the chairman of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, the party’s leadership has decided to suspend all official communication with government representatives, except those related to the parliamentary elections in the fall.
“We will not have any communication with the government. This week, we had a session of the party’s Executive Committee, and we made a unanimous decision that as VMRO-DPMNE, we will suspend all official bilateral communications with representatives from the government. There is only one thing, that is to sit down and agree on the elections, when the elections will be held, how the elections will be conducted, in what manner – with a technical government or without a technical government, so we will only talk about what is related to the elections,” stated Mickoski.
The decision of VMRO-DPMNE comes at a time when ruling parties are seeking the support of the opposition for the adoption of constitutional changes necessary for the continuation of the European Union accession process.
The changes are supposed to include the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the preamble of the constitution as a constituent people, as envisaged by the so-called “French proposal” to resolve the disputes with Bulgaria over Macedonian identity, language, and historical aspects.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said on Sunday that VMRO-DPMNE’s decision demonstrates that “the opposition party neither wants nor aims to face any challenge related to the state, but that its primary goal is to seize power”.
Osmani stated that the ruling parties have fulfilled all the opposition’s demands, but “for VMRO-DPMNE, only authority and power matter”.
“I expect to work with this party until the last day. But if this does not yield results, we need to work in parallel with the deputies who do not want to remain hindered by ambitions and want to support the European perspective of the state,” said Osmani.
Despite failing to secure two-thirds of the votes in the Parliament, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski promised that the constitutional changes will soon be drafted for adoption in the Parliament.
Prime Minister Kovačevski dismissed the opposition’s request for elections, indicating that the next elections will be regular, meaning they will happen in 2024.
The Macedonian opposition does not provide support, reasoning that “Sofia will continue with other conditions even if the Bulgarian minority becomes part of the Macedonian constitution’s preamble”.
VMRO-DPMNE stated it will support changes only if they come into force simultaneously with North Macedonia’s accession to the EU, but this request has been opposed by Brussels, arguing that the negotiation framework cannot be changed.
The European Union has in several cases stated that changes must be adopted as they do not jeopardize the Macedonian language or identity, as claimed by the Macedonian opposition.
