Skopje, 13 September 2022 (MIA) - The referendum initiative submitted by VMRO-DPMNE is not against the Constitution. Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi has neither the authorization to interpret it, it's the duty of the Constitutional Court, nor any grounds to dismiss it, VMRO-DPMNE MP Dafina Stojanovska said late Tuesday. The initiative, she stressed, doesn't demand changing of an international treaty, but annulment of its validity. "A referendum on revoking the law ratifying the Treaty with Bulgaria is in line with Article 24 of the law on referendum and isn't against the Constitution. Article 24 of this law envisages that referendum can be organized for international agreement. VMRO-DPMNE has a referendum question that doesn't change the content of the Agreement, but it disputes the ratifying law declaring it valid," Stojanovska told a news conference. With the initiative being rejected, the opposition lawmaker said, the government is avoiding to face with the people being fully aware that there will be turnout and that the people are against the agreement, seen as the source of assimilation. According to Stojanovska, the fact that the speaker played the role today of a constitutional judge is also disputable. "The interpretation of the Constitution is solely the job of the Constitutional Court," she insisted. Stojanovska warned that today's decision of the government will only further strain the relations in Parliament and deepen division. Asked whether VMRO-DPMNE will file a new referendum initiative, she said her party would have only done it in case of legal and technical remarks, which was not the case at the moment. Earlier today, Earlier, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi dismissed the initiative for a referendum calling for annulment of the Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria explaining that an international treaty cannot be annulled by a law under the Constitution. This evening, SDSM said it supports the decision of Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi to dismiss VMRO-DPMNE’s initiative calling a referendum because it is unconstitutional. According to the Constitution, says the ruling party, an international agreement cannot be annulled by a law, it can be annulled only by the signatory, in this case the government, before notifying the other party. On September 9, VMRO-DPMNE submitted the initiative to Parliament on scheduling a referendum to annul the Treaty with Bulgaria. Filing the initiative, VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary coordinator Nikola Micevski said the party had collected the signatures needed to submit the initiative. On September 5, the VMRO-DPMNE Executive Committee adopted the referendum question: “Are you in favor of terminating the validity of the ratification law on the Agreement for Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation between Macedonia and Bulgaria, published in the Official Gazette on Jan. 18, 2017?”.