site.btaPM Kovachevski of North Macedonia Expects Fruitful Debates on Proposed Constitutional Changes, Parliamentary Consensus on European Future of His Country

Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski of the Republic of North Macedonia expects constructive debate on constitutional revisions that his government approved Tuesday, and hopes that they will be adopted by consensus in the legislature to further the European integration of his country.  The constitutional changes were moved to Parliament as soon as they were approved by the government.

Kovachevski commented that there was no negative comment on Tuesday after the revisions were made public. He expressed hope that the 120 MPs will have the vision and courage to make a decision that will pave the way to the country's EU integration and ensure a better European future for the present and future generations, to use his words.

The proposed changes include parts of more nations in the Preamble and Articles 49 and 78 of the Constitution when they list the parts of nations in the country, reports the MIA news agency. As regards to the wording: "The citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Macedonian people, as well as citizens living within its borders who are part of the Albanian people, the Turkish people, the Vlach people, the Serbian people, the Romany people, the Bosniak people and others", a comma is placed after "the Bosniak people" and the following is added: the Bulgarian people, the Croatian people, the Montenegrin people, the Slovenian people, the Jewish people and the Balkan Egyptian people". Consequently, a change is also made in the Committee on Community Relations regarding the parity of Parliament representatives from all communities listed in the Constitution Preamble.

The Opposition VMRO-DPMNE party is determined not to back the constitutional amendments and calls for early elections.

The vote on the need for constitutional revision should take place within 30 days from the draft's entry into parliamentary procedure, reports MIA. It quotes Parliament Speaker Talax Xhaferi as saying in June that the parliamentary Constitutional Committee would debate the draft for ten days and complete its work eight days before the vote. According to the Parliament's Rules of Procedures, the plenary session on the need for constitutional amendments can last up to ten days and the decision requires a two-thirds majority. After that, Parliament needs to set a timeframe within which the petitioner compiles a text of the draft-constitutional amendments. Two more stages follow, including a public debate. The constitutional revision procedure is set to be completed by the end of November.

Speaker Xhaferi said that the lawmakers can vote on the need for constitutional amendments during the summer break in August.