Ilija Dimovski, head of the VMRO-DPMNE group in Parliament, said on Friday that his group will be against the request to impeach President Gjorge Ivanov, which was initiated by the opposition SDSM party. Dimovski said that VMRO-DPMNE disagrees with President Ivanov's decision to pardon more than 50 politicians and their supporters, but does not see that move as a reason to impeach him, considering that Ivanov did not violate the Constitution by doing that.
"Regardless whether we like his decision or not, and we in VMRO-DPMNE said that we disagree with his decision for pardons, as Parliament we are asked to act in accordance with the Constitution which gives the President the right to make such decisions. Whether President Ivanov had reasons to act in that way which I may not know, or maybe am not even supposed to know, is another matter. Impeaching President Ivanov for a decision he has every right to make in accordance with the Constitution is unacceptable at this moment. The President has acted in many instances in a way that was exceptionally positive for the Republic of Macedonia. He has undertaken steps and initiated policies that have seriously helped preserve Macedonia's state and national interests", Dimovski said.
SDSM requested that Ivanov is impeached for his move which was criticized by all parties and international representatives. Impeachment requires two thirds majority in Parliament, and Dimovski called on SDSM to withdraw the proposal, knowing that they will not have the necessary majority. Dimovski said that Macedonia is merely in a seeming lull in the migrant crisis, during which, as he added, President Ivanov has played a major role. Dimovski added that Ivanov, who was VMRO-DPMNE's candidate for President in 2009 and 2014, won reelection with 550,000 votes which is the largest majority in the history of Macedonia. According to Dimovski, initiating this move in Parliament also distracts the parties from their work on implementing reforms agreed with the EU.
President Gjorge Ivanov, Photo: MIA
"The current Government has a broad and serious reform agenda geared towards implementing the state priorities. This is what we need to discuss, the economy and the consequences it suffered from the political crisis, to see what steps we can take to benefit the citizens, and not to benefit the political parties", Dimovski said.
In his remarks, the head of the VMRO-DPMNE group in Parliament reminded that the Parliament has already passed two broad pardons, for political reasons. In early April, President Ivanov pardoned politicians from both VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM, from charges which he said were politically driven. Parliament later adopted legal changes that allow him to revoke the pardons, a move Ivanov was urged to make from both domestic and foreign politicians.