Skopje, 22 June 2023 (MIA) - A few more days should be given as a chance for a dialogue with the opposition before the Government forwards the constitutional amendments to the Parliament, although it is clear that the opposition has no intention of sitting down for talks again, said Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj. He noted that the Government wants to strengthen the rationale of the motion with additional arguments for the process of EU negotiations and its significance in the process of EU negotiations, and then submit it to the Parliament.

The motion for constitutional amendments, according to him, is not stuck anywhere, and they are being considered from every aspect. 

"They are not stuck anywhere, it is still a motion to amend the Constitution, you know. We consider all aspects. We held several consultation meetings with the working group itself, which worked on them. I expect the Government to assess when is the best moment to send the motion to the Parliament. I believe that a few more days should be given as a chance for dialogue with the opposition, although it is clear that they do not intend to sit down for talks again," said Marichikj. 

Our door will remain open for dialogue, he added, noting that the possibility for dialogue will remain even after the constitutional amendments are in Parliament. 

"We said that we would like to forward the amendments to the Parliament during the summer. We know that the deadline for completing the whole procedure is the end of November. The initial deadline should be summer, so we should forward them in July at the latest if we want to reach November with all the deadlines," Deputy PM Marichikj said. 

In response to a reporter's question, he reiterated that there's still a possibility for a political process that will work, adding that they are calling on the opposition every day to continue the dialogue. 

"We had a clear position from the opposition that in principle they are not against the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution, but under certain conditions. We invite them for talks on the conditions. We are really prepared to be both open and generous for conditions that are realistic and that we can do. Certainly not for those conditions that are unrealistic, that are beyond the power of North Macedonia, of our institutions and our political factors. So, I hope that reason will prevail with the opposition, we will continue to address the leadership of the opposition and the parliamentary group and every MP," said Marichikj. 

He firmly stated that no one is putting pressure on the MPs, and the fact that they talk to MPs from all parties on different topics does not imply pressure.

"It is frivolous to claim that there is any pressure. Unfortunately, VMRO-DPMNE has that tendency to claim all the time that someone is pressuring someone because, you know, that was the story as to why they cannot overthrow the Government in Parliament and cause early elections, so they always talked about pressure. Every MP is free to decide, no one can put pressure on anyone and I have never put pressure on anyone. But it is our duty to talk and present all the arguments and maintain dialogue," said Marichikj, who attended Thursday's conference on EU at MANU. 

Photo: MIA archive