Skopje, 18 December 2023 (MIA) - President Stevo Pendarovski's traditional annual address will be delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, and if there is a quorum in Parliament, extended sessions may be held provided the conditions are met. The 2024 draft budget will be discussed in a parliamentary session on December 22, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi said on Monday during a meeting with parliamentary group coordinators.

The last Q&A session of the year will be held on Thursday, December 28, and the Parliament will work until Friday, December 29. The next session will be held on January 9, 2024, followed by another session during the same month. A session for the election of a caretaker government, with Xhaferi as Prime Minister, will be held on January 28.

Speaker Xhaferi informed coordinators about the procedure for electing a member for the State Election Commission (SEC) with a two-thirds majority, MIA sources say.

On December 15, Xhaferi sent a Parliamentary Committee on Election and Appointment Issues report and a list of candidates for a new SEC member to the opposition coalition of ethnic Albanians, MPs Izet Mexhiti, Afrim Gashi, Bilall Kasami, Arjanit Hoxha and Skender Rexhepi-Zejd.

They are supposed to submit a proposal in written form for a new member by 4:30 pm today. The Parliamentary Committee on Election and Appointment Issues submitted a list of five candidates for a new SEC member - Berat Dauti, a lawyer from Tetovo, Abdush Demiri, an economist from Tetovo, Robert Trajkovski, with a master's degree in peace and development from Kumanovo, Zulfi Adili, lawyer from Skopje, and Samir Rakipi, lawyer from Tetovo.

The meeting was not attended by VMRO-DPMNE representatives. ssh/sk/

Photo: MIA archive