Parliament passes several bills as part of 30th session

Skopje, 16 January 2025 (MIA) - The Parliament passed several bills without debate as part of its 30th session on Thursday, including a draft decision on sending army members to participate in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

Deputy Defense Minister Elfet Ismaili said two members of the Army will be sent to the mission for a period of six months, from February to August 2025. The financial costs for transportation, wages and wage allowances as well as logistical costs of members of the Army for participation in the international peacekeeping mission are provided by the Ministry of Defense. The preparations and organization of members of the Army for participation in the mission are carried out by the Ministry of Defense. This decision enters into force on the day after it is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia.

Also, with 61 votes in favor, no abstentions and no votes against, the Parliament passed a draft decision on announcing a public call for the appointment of a member of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, a draft decision on announcing a public call for the appointment of a member of the State Commission for Decision-Making in Administrative Procedures, Employment Procedures and Inspection Supervision in Second Instance submitted by MP Gjorgija Sajkovski and a draft decision on election of a deputy director of the Personal Data Protection Agency also submitted by MP Gjorgija Sajkovski.

With 62 votes in favor, no abstentions and no votes against, the Parliament adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Procurement, proposed by MPs Aleksandar Jamalov, Antonio Miloshoski, Bojan Stojanoski, Dragana Bojkovska, Zorancho Jovanchev, Igor Zdravkovski and Ljupcho Prendzhov.

SDSM MP Fatmir Bytyqi joined the discussion, pointing out that the Public Procurement Bureau will not have the right now to carry out administrative controls over public procurement, and instead only administrative checks will be conducted. According to him, someone from the Ministry of Finance should have proposed the law, not a group of MPs. "I call against voting on this draft law because it is detrimental to the public procurement processes in our country," Bytyqi said.

VMRO-DPMNE MP Bojan Stojanoski said a group of MPs had proposed the law so that "there is no more stealing like before". He noted that the law had first been submitted under a shortened procedure, but following reactions in the public, it had been withdrawn and then submitted under a regular procedure. "We are ready to debate, invite whoever you want, let's debate," he added.

In addition, with 63 votes in favor, no abstentions and no votes against, the Parliament adopted the Law on Amending the Law on the Use of the Macedonian Language and the Amended Draft Law on Amending the Law on Audiovisual Goods.

During the session, the MPs decided that several bills are acceptable and can be submitted for second reading, including the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, Law on Registration of Cash Payments, Law on Foreign Exchange Operations, Law on Financing of Local Self-Government Units, Law on Banks, and the Law on Financial Inspection in the Public Sector.

Parliament vice-speaker Antonio Miloshoski adjourned the session, noting that the MPs will be additionally informed on when it will resume.