SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
At around 11 pm on Monday, Parliament, with 63 votes in favour and 32 against, adopted the need for the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) and Council of Public Prosecutors (CPP) laws to be adopted in a shortened procedure. Now, the document needs to be transferred to the Parliament’s Committee on European Affairs before it heads to a plenary session. Previously, there were many developments related to the document. The Government withdrew both laws it had submitted the previous day to Parliament, but it afterwards submitted two new documents that have entered a procedure in the legislative home. This was announced by Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi. VMRO-DPMNE MP Ilija Dimovski said the ruling majority was trying to accelerate the adoption of the PPO law. “That’s why this legal madness is happening to us,” he pointed out. According to the Government and the Justice Ministry, the law was withdrawn due to technical approximation in two provisions. The Justice Ministry denied media reports that session was late because Minister Deskoska and Xhaferi were holding a meeting at which a new version of the law was being agreed. Earlier that day, DUI, Alliance for Albanians and BESA said they wouldn’t support the version of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) law submitted to Parliament because it wasn’t in accordance with what had been agreed in the Justice Ministry. “I’m aware of the law approximated last night, not the one that’s been changed with different wills of the other people,” he said, adding that he wasn’t aware of the made changes. VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski stated that his party adhered to the stand against the law. According to him, SDSM is forcibly imposing laws that are unconstitutional and in contradiction with both European values and the interests of citizens. “VMRO-DPMNE is against amnesty,” Mickoski added. According to SDSM MP Jovan Mitreski, a sufficiently good basis has been reached for support of at least 80 MPs. Article 110 in the draft text concerns the materials from the former Special Prosecutor’s Office, which can be used as indications, not evidence, in court cases.
