Skopje, 25 August 2025 (MIA) - September will be the last working month for members of Parliament before the campaign for the local elections begins, by which time all laws submitted into procedure must be concluded. In September, Parliament will convene twice – on the 2nd and 12th – to pass all laws that have entered procedure before the start of the election campaign, said Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi at a regular media briefing on Monday.

“Two plenary sessions will be held on September 2 and 12. A Q&A session is planned to be held on September 12. The decisions haven’t been signed yet, but that’s the general agreement we discussed. The idea is to wrap things up as fast as we can, before the campaign begins. There’s a tradition of not holding sessions or committee debates during the pre-election period. The laws submitted so far have been divided between the two sessions so we can pass them in both first and second readings. Most are in the first reading under regular procedure. Our goal is to have enough time to complete the committee work. We aim to work intensively until September 12 to finalize and adopt all laws. It’s also possible that this week there will be committee debates on laws scheduled for the plenary session on September 2,” Gashi said.

The Speaker said he put forward the idea for Parliament to adopt a declaration on fair and democratic elections at the session on September 12. 

“I put forward a declaration on fair and democratic elections. I delivered it today to all parliamentary groups. I told them to see it, read it, so we can see if there are any remarks. The idea is to adopt it together, to have all party whips and, I, as Speaker, sign it, and adopt it at the September 12 session. I think this will be a good and positive message to the citizens by all political actors, showing they are committed to fair and democratic elections,” he said.

Gashi stressed that with the declaration, Parliament will send a firm message to the citizens and all political actors.

“I think that this is the first time we have had such a declaration. I saw the chronology of declarations. I think it is more important to send a message from Parliament, than to have the political parties go to the State Election Commission and sign a declaration there. The message will be stronger, more binding, when it is adopted at a plenary session. I think we will all be more responsible if we adopt it in Parliament. An added intention to add weight to democratic elections,” Gashi said.

The Speaker said there won’t be a new attempt to adopt the amendments to the Electoral Code.

“There wasn’t such an announcement from anyone. Candidates will participate in the elections with signatures. We’ll see if there are any discussions this week in the meantime. But none of the party whips announced that there would be a new attempt. There was an effort to adopt the amendments jointly. The breaking point in deciding whether to convene the session or not was that if we didn’t convene it, it would mean that Parliament hadn’t even tried to adopt the amendments, and it was important to know who was blocking it. We wanted to use every opportunity and the last chance to adopt them. All the rules of the game are being respected. The Electoral Code we currently have is the one we’ll use for the elections,” Speaker Gashi said. 

Gashi stressed that Parliament’s intention is for MPs not to get involved in the election campaign during Parliament debates, but to instead discuss and work on legislation.

“This is the call. The intention is to wrap things up as soon as possible, to avoid adopting laws during the campaign. The message is also clear with the declaration, in a way it will be a confirmation that Parliament is staying out of the election campaign,” Gashi said.

The Speaker told journalists that there aren’t many laws that are stuck in Parliament due to the lack of a Badinter’s majority. One of them, he said, is the election of a new Ombudsman.

“As a country I think we should elect an Ombudsman earlier, the faster we do it the better for all of us. That’s why the Committee should agree on a different person, if the current proposal is an issue. But I don’t think we should insist on one person if we want to have a consensus on the Ombudsman. Of course, this institution is very important for the country and for the elections,” he said.

Regarding the announced Government reshuffle after the local elections, Gashi stressed talks on the issue are being led by the leaders of the ruling coalition and he doesn’t have any information.

“I haven’t discussed the reshuffle with the Prime Minister. It isn’t my job to talk about that. This should be discussed by the leaders of the coalition partners. As you know, I am no longer a part of these talks. Once the Prime Minister and the Government submit a proposal to Parliament for a session on proposals for new ministers, I will immediately convene that session in line with the deadlines in the Rules of Procedure. In terms of the political aspect, who will be replaced, I don’t have any information,” Gashi said.

Photo: MIA