The blockade of Parliament, put in place by VMRO-DPMNE, has entered in its fourth day. So far, the party has been able to prevent advancing legislation in Parliament and even mostly setting the agenda of the day, which has caused tense moments with Speaker Talat Xhaferi, as he tried to break the filibuster and advance the debate.

The blockade from VMRO-DPMNE won’t achieve their goal, to force early elections. The elections will take place in the regularly scheduled time, in 2024, insisted SDSM coordinator Jovan Mitreski, who accused VMRO of attacking the Speaker as he was trying to force items from the agenda against the filibuster.

Bojan Stojanovski from VMRO points out that other parties, including Xhaferi himself, have used similar tactics in the past, and that elections are a necessity, given the deep crisis the country is in. An audio recording leaked yesterday showed Xhaferi losing his temper and shouting at Parliament staff in an exceptionally rude way.

With our active blockade, we will not allow the adoption of any new bad legislative proposal, and we will force the Government to the point of agreeing to elections. We will continue to propose better legislation on our part, Stojanovski said.

Meanwhile, European Union spokeswoman Ana Pisonero called on all political sides in Macedonia to work constructively and to advance reforms that are in the interest of the citizens.