Parliament faces busy week for reform-oriented laws

Macedonian MPs in the coming days, after the Easter holidays, will be doing their utmost ahead of the release of the progress report for the country of the European Commission on April 17. Starting tomorrow, Macedonia has a busy agenda, both at home and abroad, to make sure it receives a report, one that is as positive as possible, with a recommendation for launching accession talks with the EU.

Parliament on Tuesday will hold four sessions to complete several items of its agenda. Also several committees will hold sessions to discuss reform-oriented laws.

The 34th session includes a law on judicial laws, MPs at the 35th session will discuss amendments to the law on public prosecution and the law on criminal proceedings, second reading. Furthermore, the 22nd session is focused on amendments to the law on witness protection.

It is expected the Parliament on Thursday or Friday to convene for a session on the package of laws on the interception of communication.

After being postponed for after the holidays, the Parliament’s Committee of Defense and Security on April 10 will hold a session to review the motions on the laws on the interception of communication and the Operational-Technical Agency (OTA), and changes to the law on arms.

These are some of the laws for which an agreement has been reached by the working groups of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE and the ruling majority in Parliament, according to the party leaders and officials.

In the meantime, as announced by the opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, Parliament on Wednesday is supposed to hold a session to vote on a no-confidence motion against the government. This session was set as a condition by VMRO-DPMNE in order to return to Parliament to vote for reform-oriented laws.

The opposition party has been boycotting Parliament for several months to protest against the arrest of six opposition legislators for their alleged involvement in the violent storming of Parliament on 27 April 2017.