According to the list of changes in leadership positions, the Ministry of Justice will have a new head. Igor Filkov is expected to be relieved of duty, while Jeton Shasivari has been nominated as successor. Also, Ivan Stoilkoviq will change portfolios, moving from the position of Minister for Relations between Communities to that of Minister of Local Self-Government. In this position, he will replace Zllatko Perinski, who in turn has been appointed to lead the Health Insurance Fund.

Within these moves, Sasho Klekovski, who was precisely heading the Health Insurance Fund, has been proposed for the post of Minister of Health. He will take the place of Azir Ali. Meanwhile, for the Ministry for Relations between Communities, Agon Ferati has been proposed. The reconstruction also foresees some additional changes in the leadership team.

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At today’s briefing with journalists, Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi said he supports diaspora voting, provided the state guarantees the secrecy of the ballot.

“In principle, I am in favor of electronic voting for the diaspora, and I even support making this possible within the country as well. By enabling electronic voting for the diaspora, we will achieve the principle that every citizen has the right to vote, but only if the state is ready to ensure the secrecy of the vote. There must be goodwill and understanding, because this law requires party consensus and it is not good to remain in trenches or draw red lines,” said Afrim Gashi, Speaker of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the work of the Commission for Political System has been suspended for the time being, after SDSM and Levica submitted 13,500 amendments. All of these amendments must be translated, and there is still no announcement as to when the Commission may resume its work or whether there will first be any possible agreement between the parties on the Electoral Code.

SDSM says that Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE have no intention of giving up what they claim are manipulations and abuses involving more than 200,000 votes from the diaspora.

“It is dangerous and worrying that VMRO is categorically refusing for the SEC, by consensus, to regulate the procedures for diaspora voting. What is the government afraid of? If their true goal is indeed a fair and democratic electoral process, then why are they running away from a mechanism that ensures control, trust and consent among all political actors? But the truth is that their goal is not a better electoral process, but opening space for electoral engineering and manipulation,” added Bogdanka Kuzeska, SDSM spokesperson.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Mickoski made an open offer to the opposition, saying he is ready to accept a single electoral district and also Levica’s request for greater campaign financing for small parties, if the Electoral Code that includes electronic voting for the diaspora is adopted. Today as well, VMRO-DPMNE continued its criticism of the opposition, accusing it of deliberately blocking the adoption of the Electoral Code.

“Venko Zaev and LSD oppose a solution that would allow Macedonia’s diaspora to vote in the largest possible numbers. We, as VMRO-DPMNE, proposed that this be done electronically or by mail. This proposal was rejected by Venko Zaev and LSD, because they are dominated by fear that the citizens who left the state during their period in government will not support their policy,” said Valentin Manasievski.

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In his congratulatory message, Gashi conveyed his wishes to the American people and US institutions.

“On the occasion of July 4 – Independence Day of the United States of America, I extend my warmest congratulations to the American people and its institutions, wishing them peace, progress and prosperity,” Gashi stressed.

He pointed out that the Republic of North Macedonia highly values its ties with the US, which he described as a lasting friendship and a strategic partnership.

“Continued American support for our democratic development, Euro-Atlantic integration and regional stability remains of particular importance,” he said.

According to Gashi, relations between the two countries are expected to grow even stronger in the future.

“I am convinced that our cooperation will continue to strengthen further, in the service of peace, security, prosperity and our shared values,” his message said.

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During the same session, the Law on Senior Managers, the Law on the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources, and the Law on Weapons were also passed.

Meanwhile, the vote on the Draft Law on Civil Procedure will be scheduled at a later date.

Opposition lawmakers did not vote for the two laws, arguing that these solutions are not reform-oriented in nature and that they pursue the objectives of the Reform Agenda only at a declarative level. On the other hand, representatives of the parliamentary majority said the legal acts were adopted through a democratic process and include the two key demands of the affected parties, related to their status and income.

According to the opposition, these two laws will not guarantee independence, impartiality, and development in the judicial services and in the public prosecution services.

“This is a law that is far from reformist, far from what is envisaged by the Reform Agenda. We have a law that only declaratively follows the goals of the Reform Agenda. Instead of strengthening the independence of the public prosecution, some provisions preserve the mechanisms through which the executive branch exerts influence,” Jovana Trençevska of LSDM said from the parliamentary rostrum.

Responding to these criticisms was MP Ljupço Prenxhov of OBRM-PDUKM, who assessed that the country would be among those that have implemented reforms the fastest and most efficiently, and that benefit the most from European Union funds.

“You, as the opposition, have two options. The first option is to come out and say that you could have adopted all these legal solutions that are now being passed, but you did not. We were at the bottom among the countries of the Western Balkans; today we are first and we are leading. Secondly, as for the legal solutions, everyone connected to these two legal solutions was invited in the most democratic way. They had two major objections — first, that they did not want a single denar cut from their salaries, and that they did not want to lose the status of judicial or public prosecution officials. It happened that we worked with delays and accepted both remarks,” Prenxhov said.

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