I will respect solely the law and the Constitution, President Gjorge Ivanov stated when asked what he would do if the people whose pardons hadn’t been annulled fail to submit requests within the deadline defined under recent amendments to the Law on Pardoning.
Ivanov, who is taking part at a SEECP summit in Sofia, reiterated his decision had not been reached to breach the law and the Constitution and had been made in order to provide a way out of the political crisis in the country, MIA reports from the Bulgarian capital.
“I have offered the leaders a solution to the crisis, pardons to be granted, all criminal proceedings implicating both ruling and opposition officials to be suspended as it is made possible by the Constitution and the laws. The move was not against the law and the Constitution. They had refused the crisis to be settled in this manner and created legal conditions in order for the pardons to be annulled. I have waited for them to file requests according to the law. Because not a single request was submitted, my decision covered all those who stirred public anger that the politicians are above the law and are not held accountable. Therefore, my move at rescinding the pardons referred to all the politicians. The law allows all the others who said they were prepared to submit requests to do so,” said the Macedonian President adding he was still waiting for them to ask their pardons to be annulled.
Last week, Ivanov rescinded the pardons for 22 people, all politically active individuals, out of 56 people implicated in last year’s wiretapping scandal.