Skopje, 30 August 2024 (MIA) - I believe that Arsovska will gather strength and find a way to go beyond herself and her ego and finally resign from the post of Skopje Mayor, which would be good for her, but above all for all citizens of Skopje, the President of the Association of Local Self-Government Units (ZELS) and the Mayor of the Municipality of Kisela Voda, Orce Gjorgjievski, told journalists on Friday.

If she doesn’t do that, Gjorgjievski said ZELS is ready to propose legal amendments that would take away Danela Arsovska’s authorizations.

“Nothing will change in Skopje even if all the requests of Mayor Danela Arsovska are fulfilled. Unfortunately, the citizens of Skopje are currently held hostage by a person who has personal issues and blames everyone else instead of looking for the problem within herself. Currently, the salvation for Skopje lies in Arsovska submitting an irrevocable resignation,” Gjorgjievski told journalists.

Gjorgjievski said Arsovska lacks the support of her collaborators and noted that she changes the heads of the public enterprises several times within six months.

He recalled that the mayors of the municipalities making up Skopje recently met and called on the Government to take away Arsovska’s authorizations, but, he said, this currently isn’t legally feasible.

“But we won’t give up on the idea and if it is necessary we will intervene in the legislation, as mayors of Skopje’s municipalities we will initiate the practical implementation of this since what is currently happening in the city can’t be allowed to continue,” Gjorgjievski said. 

The Minister of Local Self-Government, Zlatko Perinski, said he would support any legal amendments in order to solve the issues in Skopje.

“We must look at the ZELS motion from two aspects. Firstly, the legal aspect, in line with the existing legislation, since the legal authorizations of the City, provided by Article 22 of the Law on Local Self-Government cannot be taken away. That’s the legal barrier which the ZELS President mentioned. The second aspect is how to implement this in practice,” Perinski said.

Perinski said they are looking for a swift solution since, he said, “the city is sinking in waste at 40 degrees” which he described as “a danger to the lives and security of the citizens”.

“Even if we choose to solve this in the manner requested by the mayors, we would need time. The Law on Local Self-Government is a systemic law, it requires a two-third majority, and we need to be aware that we can’t solve this issue tomorrow,” Perinski said. 

Photo: MIA Archive