In an expedited procedure, without opposition members being present, the Parliament Committee on constitutional affairs needed only four hours to approve the four amendments proposed by the Government to rename Macedonia into North Macedonia and implement other clauses from the Zaev – Tsipras treaty.

Most of the discussions were from ethnic Albanian members of Parliament, who demanded that the word “Macedonian” is removed from the description of the nationality – “Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia”. Other ethnic Albanian representatives, like Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani from DUI, responded that his formulation is agreed with Greece.

Another member of Parliament elected on the VMRO-DPMNE ticket Panco Minov indicated his support for the proposals, meaning he will likely join the two thirds majority which the Zaev Government is trying to maintain before the final vote on the amendments.

Parliament continues this truncated debate on Thursday, when the law to implement the amendments will be on the agenda. Members of Parliament have until the end of the month to propose changes to the amendments, before a plenary session begins on January 9th. VMRO-DPMNE said it will boycott the rest of the process to amend the Constitution, calling it a farce and violation of the will of the people, who largely boycotted the September 30th referendum.