SKOPJE – The first constitutive session of the new Parliament of North Macedonia was held on Tuesday following the July 15 early parliamentary elections.
Speaking at the session, former Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, who will chair assembly sessions until a new speaker is elected, declared that the posts of the head of the government and its members end as of Tuesday according to the Electoral Code.
“In order to ensure the continuity of the work of the government and in line with the Constitution, the government remains in office until new government ministers are elected,” Xhaferi said, Meta reported.
According to the Constitution of North Macedonia, the President of the country has ten days after the constitution of a new parliament to hand over the mandate for government formation to the party or parties that have a majority in the parliament.
The candidate for Prime Minister, on the other hand, must submit to the assembly a plan and proposal for the composition of the government within 20 days from the day of the assignment of the mandate.
In the July 15 early parliamentary elections, the coalition “We Can” between the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and the Besa Movement won 46 seats, the coalition led by the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE 44, Democratic Union for Integration 15, the Alliance for Albanians and Alternativa 12, whereas Levica party and the Albanian Democratic Party won respectively two seats and one seat.
According to the media, official talks for the formation of the new government are set to begin on Tuesday.
Serbian parliament meets in constitutive session
The Serbian parliament held its constitutive session on Monday to confirm the mandates of the MPs who won seats at the June 21 elections.
The session closed once the administrative proceedings were completed. It was chaired by the oldest MP Smilja Tišma of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).
The Serbian parliament’s first session is traditionally chaired by the oldest MP. MPs observed pandemic precautionary measures, wearing masks and keeping a distance.
Parliament will meet again next week, according to the MPs from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) which holds a majority of seats. The next session of parliament should elect a speaker and deputy speakers.
During the session, outside the parliament building, a crowd headed by defrocked monk Antonije Davidović protested, throwing eggs and tomatoes at the steps leading up to the entrance to the building once they saw MPs leaving, N1 reported.
Security closed the main entrance and police officers were reported to have led one of the protesters away.
The police detained former MPs Srđan Nogo and Zoran Radojičić under suspicion “of calling for the violent change of the Constitutional order.”
They were ordered 48 hours in custody. Their defence lawyer Marko Pušica said it was absurd to suspect someone of that crime because of a single paintball rifle found in a car boot.