Gashi: Local elections should be announced at the end of July or the beginning of August
Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi said at today’s briefing with reporters that local elections should be announced in late July or the beginning of August.
Commenting on the possibility of some of the laws relating to the elections not to be adopted in time, the speaker said that if that happens then they will go to the elections with the old solutions. These are the legislative changes on the election of the mayors, the state funding of the campaigns, and the legislative changes that should respond to the OSCE recommendations for greater regularity of voting.
« We have an announcement only on the Law on Local Self -Government, that it has been requested to organize a public debate, » Gashi said, citing the competence of the Ministry of Justice for applying the OSCE recommendations. He expressed conclusion that most of those recommendations would be accepted because, as he said, there is no essential difference in the attitudes of the parties around them.
Regarding the announced competition for the design of the Parliament’s logo, Gashi noted that a new modern logo that would be, as he said, acceptable to all.
-I want a new modern logo, acceptable to all, simpler, more representative, more inclusive … that will not be done by politicians but designers and will solve an expert commission for it. I don’t participate in that, I will only accept the choice – he said.
Around the tragedy in Kocani when the Assembly « dropped » for two weeks and held neither a commemorative session nor provided donations to the victims, Gashi said it was not true that they had been taking free days because, as they said, they came to the Parliament, they were also discussing a commemorative session. He emphasized that they have jointly decided not to hold a commemorative session on the tragedy in Kocani, so as not to be, as he said, abused to open other issues.
-I want to point out that on this question whether to have a commemorative session or not, we approached him with great care. At a meeting with parliamentary group coordinators, I asked the question and after the discussion we concluded that if I had a commemorative session on the tragedy in Kocani, the question would be raised why there was no commemorative and victims of the fire in the Tetovo Modular Hospital, for the victims of the accident in Bulgaria.
On the remark that the impression is that the Parliament has hidden during the biggest tragedy in Macedonia to protect its ratings, Gashi noted that no one can speak on behalf of the public and that it should assess whether they have acted properly or not.
