Skopje, 27 October 2022 (MIA) – It is obvious that Parliament needs new Rules of Procedure, because whoever comes to work with the current Rules of Procedure, will face issues, said Speaker Xhaferi at a media briefing on Thursday. Xhaferi announced that a meeting of the parliamentary groups will be held Friday in relation to the Jean Monnet process, which covers the Rules of the Procedure. A meeting on the Rules of Procedure has not been held for a while, which was noted in the EC Report. At the media briefing, Xhaferi said that as part of the Jean Monnet process, the MPs will review the articles of the Rules of Procedure starting from article 132 and onwards. According to Xhaferi, the Rules of Procedure should be adopted as part of a regular procedure, with two readings and an amendment discussion. Xhaferi said he believes that the new Rules of Procedure will solve numerous ambiguities and issues arising from the current document, but it should also make certain restrictions, such as during the adoption of certain legislation and in the election of certain officials. Regarding the EC Report and the World Bank remarks on the duration of the adoption of certain laws, Parliament Speaker Xhaferi reiterated that the Report reflects the work of Parliament and that even if he wanted to, he could not influence the relations between the political parties. “Coordination meetings are held every week, but VMRO-DPMNE representatives are absent. I do not have the instruments to force the parties to communicate,” said Xhaferi. The Speaker said he does not know if VMRO-DPMNE and Levica representatives will participate in the Jean Monnet meeting. Speaker Xhaferi shares the Prime Minister’s belief that the political parties should meet to discuss the constitutional amendments. Xhaferi said that the PM pointed out the need for cross-party consultation, because the constitutional amendments cannot be adopted without a two-third majority. According to Xhaferi, the parliamentary groups whose representatives attend the coordination meetings support the constitutional amendments. Regarding Levica’s announcement of a total blockade of Parliament, Xhaferi said “the answer to a total attack is a total defense.” “The issue is we have gone too far with democracy,” said Xhaferi. He pointed out that currently a pilot project for communication with the citizens is currently being implemented, i.e. the parliamentary caravan which began its journey in Shtip last week and will visit almost every city in the country. Regarding his response to Levica’s referendum initiative, Xhaferi said he responded in line with provisions of the Rules of Procedure. According to what he announced at the briefing, the vote on Risto Penov’s appointment as new Minister of Local Self-Government is expected to be held on Friday, as well as the election of the new constitutional judges, while the 88^th session is expected to continue on Monday, when the legislation related to the energy crisis measures is expected to be adopted. On Monday evening, Parliament Speaker Xhaferi received the Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav the Wise, signed by a decree by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. When asked what this award meant to him, Xhaferi said that it represents a recognition of what North Macedonia has done in support of Ukraine. ad/nn/