VMRO-DPMNE left the Parliament Committee on the political system after it began a discussion on the proposal from the ruling majority to significantly reduce mandatory sentences and open the door to throw out charges of abuse of office.

The changes to the Criminal Code are being forced through Parliament in order to provide amnesty for a number of members of Parliament who were charged in the run up to the vote on the renaming of Macedonia, and who demand amnesty in order to support the proposal. VMRO-DPMNE expelled the representatives who began negotiations with the SDSM led Government, and after Prime Minister Zoran Zaev recently acknowledged that he is still short of the 81 votes he needs in Parliament to rename Macedonia into North Macedonia, several amnesty laws or amendments were quickly drafted.

According to VMRO-DPMNE, the proposal will only further damage the rule of law in the country and the party will not participate in the procedure. After a chaotic day when the representatives were unsure what the actual proposal is, ultimately 66 of them from the SDSM and DUI majority and the expelled VMRO-DPMNE members, voted in favor of beginning an expedited procedure to adopt the changes to the Criminal Code, while VMRO-DPMNE members were opposed.