VMRO-DPMNE does not allow factionation

MPs of VMRO-DPMNE to resign, VMRO-DPMNE not to return to parliament, and not to recognize Talat Xhaferi as legitimate president of the Assembly, demanded Filip Petrovski from the new leadership of the main opposition party and its leader, Hristijan Mickoski. Petrovski, who is a critic of the policies of the heirs of Nikola Gruevski, joined the Democratic faction in VMRO-DPMNE yesterday. He claims that the electricity demanding intra-party reforms will soon become dominant in the party, after which he will start rescuing Macedonia from the government that, according to him, is anonymous and must leave before it is too late for the country. He demands change in the statute of the party and to give common members the opportunity to elect their representatives in the local committees, municipal branches, to the highest bodies and the election of delegates who will vote for the presidency.

“The crisis in our party has been going on for a long time, and it resulted in the framed congress in Valandovo. There, delegates received instructions on who to vote, and even in such a situation it was not possible to vote against the only candidate. No list of present and absent delegates has been published to date. Now we have gathered several groups, we are looking for real reforms,” he stressed.

Petrovski noted that the party is making a series of mistakes, emphasizing the negotiations with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after which both sides said that the commissions agreed on all issues, while in the meantime a theater was made in public with an interpellation.

“There is no need for an interpellation, however, Talat Xhaferi should not be recognized as President of the Assembly, he is illegitimate, elected with less than 61 votes. All MPs of VMRO-DPMNE should urgently resign, and thus strike a blow to this anti-national government, which has raised tensions in society to the extent that they can get out of control,” said the former president of the State Archives.

Professor Jove Kekenovski, whose FRODEM is part of the faction, says that he is fighting with all democratic means and instruments, and in June at the latest they will come up with a unifying assembly to announce the concrete measures of action. For now, they have no contact with Mickoski, but if he is ready to hear and fulfill their demands, he will join the upcoming protests against Zaev’s government next month. They repeat that VMRO-DPMNE is their main party, and do not think about forming a new one.

We want a platform like G17, in which we will unite all the structures. At the moment we have the support of the current MPs in the Parliament, but it is too early to come out with their names” Petrovski concluded.

But the answer they received from VMRO-DPMNE leaves no room for an agreement. From the “white palace” they say they are a party with a huge democratic capacity, within which organs are allowed for all issues to be openly discussed, to have different views and opinions until the moment when a concrete position on any issue is adopted.

“At the moment of adopting a party position, we are consistent in that attitude. What has happened now, the announcement of factionation is not provided in our statute, it is not permissible and we do not support it. We are also talking within the framework of the current statute, but also within the framework of the statute that is being finalized by experts from our party. In particular, one of the persons who held the press, Filip Petrovski, has not updated his membership in VMRO-DPMNE. This means that Filip Petrovski is not a member of VMRO-DPMNE, and it is certain that he was a member of the Democratic right, the party he actually formed, so that he has no credibility to open such issues and such topics,” VMRO-DPMNE stated for “Nezavisen/Independent” daily newspaper.