A new meeting between the teams prepared by the ruling SDSM – DUI coalition and the VMRO-DPMNE opposition party will be held this afternoon, to discuss whether the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) can be incorporated in the permanent prosecutor service.
VMRO-DPMNE submitted 65 proposed amendments to the draft which is being proposed by SDSM. VMRO demands that the prosecutor is appointed by the opposition parties to ensure transparency and accountability of the Government, which was a key SDSM request only years ago. VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski also cited a direct attempt by current special prosecutor Katica Janeva to blackmail him as the reason why the opposition can’t support the current SPO officials.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who owes his position to the dozens of criminal cases which the SPO initiated – almost exclusively against VMRO officials – wants to keep Katica Janeva in charge of the institution. For this purpose, Zaev announced that he may try to adopt the changes to the law without approval from the opposition, using the two – thirds majority he was able to put together for the renaming of the country. Nine opposition members of Parliament, some of them charged by the SPO and others by the “regular” state prosecutor’s office, voted with Zaev to rename Macedonia into “North Macedonia” in exchange for pardons.
It is expected that the outcome of the European Council meeting this July when Macedonia expects to be allowed to open EU accession talks, will depend on the outcome of the SPO talks.
During his recent TV debate with Zaev, Mickoski insisted that it is clear that the Government wants to keep using the SPO as a tool to exert pressure on the opposition.
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