Skopje, 29 August 2025 (MIA) - Minister of Local Self-Government Zlatko Perinski told journalists Friday efforts are underway to adopt the amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government, which are currently blocked in Parliament, by September 12 when the legislature is expected to hold its last session before the beginning of the campaign for the local elections.

“I regret that neither DUI nor SDSM managed to rise above themselves and back these amendments, because, above all, the amendments are aimed at enhancing the democratic processes at the local level,” Perinski said at a press conference.

Perinski noted that the amendments would make it possible for mayors to be recalled at local referendums, as well as introduce municipal police and transparent broadcasts of all sessions of the municipal councils. He said the goal is to boost the quality of local services and democracy at the local level.

According to the Minister, if the amendments aren’t adopted at the next session of Parliament, they won’t apply for the mayors elected in the October elections. “Mayors,” he said, “will remain the only public officials that can’t be recalled.“

Quizzed about the reduction of the number of members in several municipal councils based on the 2021 Census population figures, Perinski noted that according to the Law on Local Self-Government the number of council members is determined by the population living in the municipality.

“There is no example in the world where the number of non-residents is taken as a parameter for the number of councilors, because they live in a different place,” the Minister added.

Perinski said that the opposition’s demands that the entire population should be included, both residents and non-residents as per the census, are “unjustified” and stressed that the Government has already resolved these issues.

At the press conference on Friday, Perinski also presented the municipal support resource center, which he said is a mechanism that enables long-term, expert and sustainable assistance for all municipalities in the country.

According to the Minister, the center aims to directly target weaknesses: the lack of administrative expertise, low coordination between municipalities, and insufficient use of municipal resources.

"To address this decades-long challenge faced by municipalities, a systematic approach is needed, along with the integration of measures and activities that have already been delivered to some extent in building municipal capacities, however, due to a lack of coherence, they did not achieve the desired results," Perinski said.

The Minister added that the European Union’s Delegation in the country has also recognized the potential of the initiative, and through the EU for Municipalities project activities will be implemented to strengthen municipal capacities as part of the concept for the resource center.

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