Skopje, 9 January 2025 (MIA) – SDSM leader Venko Filipche reiterated Friday his party won’t participate in a meeting of the parliamentary party leaders, in which participants should discuss the abolishment of the caretaker government, noting that it must remain “as the final line of defense against complete capture and misuse of the free will of the citizens during the election process.”

“The caretaker government could be abolished only if we were a mature society, which we are not at this point,” Filipche told a press briefing adding: “Only a caretaker government featuring members of the opposition can guarantee a fair and democratic election cycle.”

According to him, caretaker government cannot be scrapped because it offers the only chance for fair elections. “They don’t want a caretaker government because for the current government it means opening of the Pandora’s box,” said Filipche adding it only serves as an alibi for organizing early elections.

He accused the government of “occupying the judicial system” with “the public prosecutor’s office being under full control, with the Judicial Council under pressure and with changes made to the criminal law that befit only the government.”

“Any discussion for the abolishment of the caretaker government is not only irresponsible, it is also puts at risk democracy and processes under way in the country,” stated Filipche.

Regarding the Safe City project, he said he supports it in terms of road safety, adding he is concerned about the risks of irregulated mass surveillance.

“Legalisation of mass surveillance through Safe City with 65,000 cameras allows citizens’ movements to be under digital surveillance. The technical interior minister from the opposition is a guarantee that the system won’t be abused to monitor the movements of opposition members or opposition candidates during election campaigns. There is no law that regulates the system,” said the SDSM leader.

Regarding reform laws, he said the opposition will be involved in debates in Parliament, reiterating it won’t be part of a leaders’ meeting.

“There’ll be no meeting with people that are robbing the state and to cover that up, they are blocking our road to the EU,” Filipche said speaking at the press briefing.

SDSM, he noted, will back European laws, however, the real path to EU accession is the constitutional change.

“Nothing was done involving the reforms laws in 2025. Reform laws are blocked so as to allow corruption to flourish. I don’t want to sit at that kind of table,” Filipche said adding his party will take part in elections even if the caretaker government is scrapped and “we will fight against this undemocratic government with all democratic means available.”

Asked about the relations with Bulgaria and whether he agrees with the part of the Bulgarian foreign ministry’s statement mentioning “available language”, Filipche stressed that Bulgaria should do more in the spirit of good neighbourly relations.

“We’ve demonstrated already how identity characteristics about the language, culture should be protected and it is implemented in the Prespa Agreement and the so-called French proposal. The language is fully protected because it has been clearly recognized in the UN and the EU. It is an agreement that doesn’t, in any way, threaten identity characteristics. The problem lies in provocations and in doing nothing about open issues,” responded SDSM’s Filipche.

Photo: SDSM