The proposal for the impeachment of President Gjorge Ivanov is based on unfounded grounds, the Parliamentary Committee assessed. MPs from the SDSM, the DUI, and the DPA voted “for”, while MPs from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, who are the majority on the committee voted “against”.
Regardless of whether the majority believes that there are no grounds for holding the President accountable, MPs in a plenary session on June the 13th will have to debate the report, in accordance with the law.
Renata Deskoska from the SDSM considers that the conclusions were adopted in an incomplete procedure, which according to her, is done in such manner, to make the task of establishing facts difficult.
“The VMRO-DPMNE violated the works, and secured a majority in the committee and therefore we do not expect that the procedure will be conducted thoroughly. Ivanov did not appear, nor did he give a statement. And every President who has their own arguments would come and would have spoken”, Deskoska.
The SDSM and the DUI party share the same opinion. MP Talat Xhaferi believes that Ivanov made the decision to grant the pardons in a questionable procedure, which is contrary to the legal regulations.
Krsto Mukoski MP from VMRO-DPMNE said that the report is sublimate to everything discussed in past Committee sessions. According to him, the request for impeachment by the SDSM for Ivanov is completely invalid and is not based on legal arguments.
“After the debate citizens will assess who is right and who is wrong and whether the president abused his powers and whether he made an unconstitutional decision”, said Mukoski.
To start the procedure for impeachment at the Constitutional Court, there needs to be a two-third majority vote in Parliament first, or in this case 82 MPs.
