Macedonia Urged to End Parliamentary Paralysis

The parliamentary speaker and the ruling majority are being urged to take action to curb the stalling tactics of the opposition VMRO DPMNE party which have been blocking parliament's work for the past month and a half.

Gjorgi Spasov, a diplomat and a former MP said that the speaker Talat Xhaferi and the Social Democrats-led majority "must demonstrate strength and bravery to remove this blockade and the many others that are expected".

Spasov said that the majority otherwise risks not being able to proceed with its ambitious reform plan aimed at restoring the rule of law and country's EU and NATO accession bids and causing disappointment amongst its voters.

Soon after going into opposition in late May, the former ruling VMRO DPMNE formed ten separate parliamentary caucuses which gave it significantly more opportunities to stall the new government's proposed bills, regulations and appointments.

Since then, parliament has been stuck in endless recesses demanded by the various VMRO DPMNE parliamentary groups, while VMRO DPMNE MPs have also used long off-topic speeches and replies as delaying tactics.

The VMRO DPMNE controls 51 MPs in the 120 seat parliament.

Because of the VMRO DPMNE's filibustering, parliament on Monday again failed conclude its debate on the announced dismissal of chief Public Prosecutor Marko Zvrlevski, who has been widely criticised for ignoring major corruption cases in the past and siding with the VMRO DPMNE while it was in office.

The debate about his dismissal, which is seen as one of the first stepping stones towards judicial reforms that the new government has promised, has been dragging on for over a month. 

As they have done before, VMRO DPMNE MPs on Monday indulged in lengthy...