Political parties signatories to the Pržino Agreement failed to meet all the deadlines stipulated by the agreement which was reached on July 20, before the leaders’ meeting where leaders’ are meant to determine a date for early parliamentary elections.
The agreement came to a standstill during the formation of the ad hoc body to regulate the media during the election campaign period, which was meant to be completed by August 24.
Four representatives from the two main parties for days now have not been able to reach a consensus on the fifth member, who by law has to be of Albanian ethnicity.
Slagjana Dimishkova and Cvetin Chilimanov who were proposed by the VMRO-DPMNE while Ljubomir Trpenovski and Goran Kostovski were proposed by the SDSM, have agreed to have another meeting on Monday.
The ad hoc body has to be fully formed by Tuesday, so the leaders’ meeting can be held on Wednesday, August 31st, where the leaders of the four biggest political parties can hold a leaders’ meeting where they can come to an agreement on a date for elections.
Judging by the inter-party squabbles and the tone of the announcements these past days exchanged between the two rival parties, the SDSM and the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, they are far from reaching a favorable climate for an agreement. Allegations questioning each other’s patriotism are being passed from one another, as to who is a traitor, who is a statesman and who has undermined the agreement and implemented it. But also, if we judge from past experiences, if things do not settle soon, we can expect representatives of the international community to jump in at the last minute, under whose auspices the agreement was reached. It is not in their favor for the agreement to fail over an ad hoc body for the media.
What remains:
• 19 August/24 August (expired) – Formation of the ad hoc body for the media
• 31 August – End of deadline for leaders’ meeting
• 2 Septemeber – Opposition to name Chief Editor of MRTV (only if elections are held on 11 December)
• 2 September – Amendments to the Law on the MOI to be suspended concerning the powers of the Minister (Only if elections are held on 11 December)
Fulfilled:
• 23 July – MPs from Parliament voted in the amendments to the Electoral Code
• 25 July – SEC published the list of the 39.502 disputed voters
• 28 July – MPs voted in amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, the Law on Criminal Proceedings and the Law on Government
• 18 August – Registration ends for disputed voters in the SEC
