Skopje, 16 August 2023 (MIA) – VMRO-DPMNE's parliamentary group will reiterate its arguments at the plenary session on the constitutional amendments Friday, as they did during the session of the Committee on Constitutional Issues. We remain of the position that changes to the Constitution in the current format, under Bulgarian dictate, are impossible, and we will not support them, said the whip of VMRO-DPMNE’s parliamentary group, Nikola Micevski, at a press conference Wednesday.

According to Micevski, the vote for the session’s agenda will show if the Government has the majority it needs to adopt the amendments.

“VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs remain of the position that changes to the Constitution in the current format, under Bulgarian dictate, are impossible and we will not support them. Our position was expressed in the Committee on Constitutional Issues where, through arguments, we said that the Government is pushing a process that does not have the support of the citizens. We will repeat this at the plenary session too,” said Micevski ahead of Friday’s session of Parliament.

Micevski said that the plenary session will be a good opportunity for the public to see that the Government “has been lying all year” about the constitutional amendments and that “they are not even close” to adopting them.

“That happens every time the people are underestimated, and the personal interests are placed above the national interests,” said Micevski, adding that the Government has been buying time all year, and is now becoming “a victim of its own lies.”

Asked if VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs will participate in the debate, Micevski said that, just like at the session of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, they will “explain through arguments”. Micevski added that, as a whip, he hasn’t been pressured by anyone so far, he said he has the support of the citizens “who ask of him to persist in his intentions.”

The sole item on the agenda at Friday’s session of Parliament is the adoption of the constitutional amendments, which are set to add the Bulgarians and five other ethnic communities to the country's Constitution. The adding of the Bulgarians to the Constitution would enable the country to continue its EU accession talks and hold the second intergovernmental conference.

Photo: MIA