A consensual solution is required for language amendments
An amnesty hearing on the Law on the Use of Languages is not a decision to unblock parliament, said Speaker Talat Xhaferi. He expects to find a solution for nearly 36,000 amendments submitted by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE in the following days.
– Communicate with representatives of the parliamentary groups including VMRO-DPMNE. I think that we are close to a solution, Xhaferi said at today’s meeting with reporters in the Parliament.
The goal, as he said, is to avoid the blockade of parliament. Xhaferi suggested that he would not allow a procedural blockade to happen in the legislature.
Asked whether it was a decision to discuss the amendments of VMRO-DPMNE, Xhaferi assessed that this would mean a paralysis of the work of the Parliament.
The Law on Languages also discussed the meetings with the three MEPs Ivo Vajgl, Knut Fleckenstein and Eduard Kukan, who initiated the talks within the “Jean Monnet” process, and who participated on Monday at an interparliamentary conference in the Macedonian Parliament.
The first meeting between representatives of parliamentary parties, including VMRO-DPMNE, is expected to take place on March 15th. But if the presence of EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn and experts is not ensured, talks could be postponed for May.
Xhaferi believes that soon the opposition could join again in the work of the Parliament.