Fierce accusations were traded at the Q&A session of Parliament, held on Thursday, over many topics, including the living standard, the Macedonian identity, and the Corridors. PM Hristijan Mickoski presented figures, saying people in the country have a better life than in half of Europe, explaining that a Finance Think analysis showed that.
Also, he accused the opposition, as well as one of the trade unions that had been part of the previous day’s session of the Economic-Social Council, of sending political messages in contradiction with, as he pointed out, what the numbers show.
“Compared to living costs, Germany has the best level of minimum pay, while Albania is last. We’re somewhere in the middle. And let’s say we’re better than a country such as Portugal, Greece, Montenegro, let’s say, Serbia, Albania, as we said, and so on”, he noted.
Regarding the EU path, SDSM MP Mitko Trajculeski said it seemed to him history repeated itself as a farce.
“You need an alibi to conceal the incompetence of your government to deliver policies for a better life of citizens. You desperately need the old tried-and-tested division into traitors and patriots. Of course, you and [ex-PM and former VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola] Gruevski are the patriots, while all of us from the opposition are the wretched traitors and collaborators of Bulgaria”, he underlined.
In response, however, the PM said his cabinet would work to change everything accepted by the previous ruling structure related to Bulgaria.
“During your rule, it was an act of heresy to mention the Macedonian identity and language in a report. There, it was an act of heresy, they didn’t know what that meant. You accepted, voluntarily, signing it, lying here in Parliament, to assimilate Macedonians”, he responded.
Regarding the railway section of Corridors 8 and 10, Transport Minister and Deputy PM Aleksandar Nikoloski stated that the projects related to them had been unlocked, which was a key difference between the current cabinet and the previous one. A big part of the session concerned matters related to energy and the economy.