Skopje, 26 May 2023 (MIA) - The working group adopted Friday the draft-initiative over the need for constitutional amendments. The initiative will be submitted to the Government, which is then scheduled to forward it to the Parliament.

"The meeting was successful, we made all decisions unanimously, the discussion was productive and included different arguments, but the most important thing is that we agreed on the proposal for amendments to the Constitution. The amendments relate to the Preamble by adding several peoples. Namely, the Bosniak people is to be followed by the words 'Bulgarian people, Croatian people, Montenegrin people, Slovenian people, Jewish people, Egyptian (Ashkali) people,'" said working group chairwoman Margarita Caca Nikolovska after the meeting.

The second change, she added, is in the part of the diaspora and the Amendment 34 that is replaced by Article 49 and Amendment 2. It now adds after the Bosniak people 'Bulgarian people, Croatian people, Montenegrin people, Slovenian people, Jewish people, Egyptian (Ashkali) people.'

Caca Nikolovska said amendments are also made in the Committee on Community Relations, considering the larger number of communities that could produce a higher number of MPs.

"Here we have the number 43, including 16 each from the order of Macedonians and Albanians, one each from the order of MPs in the Preamble, and if some community does not have MPs, then the Ombudsman shall propose committee members upon consultations with relevant representatives of those communities," said Caca Nikolovska.  

The working group also drafted a brief elaboration of the initiative and its rationale.

"This is the narrative text. I just read the amendments and certain articles in the Constitution, but the amendments will have to be drafted and presented accordingly in the Parliament. We wish the Parliament success in accepting these draft-amendments so that the country can continue on its path towards European integration," said Caca Nikolovska.