VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM Still Divided over PPO Law

According to the opposition, the new Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) should be drawn up by a team of six prominent professors. SDSM leader and former PM Zoran Zaev, on the other hand, believes that there is no time to create a new law. The ruling structure will try to get a two-thirds majority without VMRO-DPMNE’s support. Negotiations are already underway with the independent group of VMRO-DPMNE and parties from the Albanian bloc. That’s why the Government has left room by the end of the week to officially send the law to Parliament. Six MPs from the independent group held a meeting on Monday with US Ambassador Kate Marie Byrnes. They talked about the PPO law. However, Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska wasn’t present. She hasn’t said whether her absence means that she doesn’t support the law. As far as the possibility of the delaying the elections is concerned, Zaev explained his comments on Tuesday. “They will not be delayed. It’s possible for the date for dissolution of Parliament to be delayed,” he said. According to opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, delaying the elections will create a serious crisis in Macedonia. As he said, his party’s MP group will file a proposal for dissolution of Parliament on 12 February if the ruling majority doesn’t do so. Though there’s been no official stand, DUI’s MP group said it would vote on dissolution on 12 February, which could prove enough for the end of the current composition’s term even without support from SDSM.