Macedonian MPs with 87 votes in favour and none against or in abstention on Saturday elected Trajko Veljanoski as the Speaker of the new parliament, who has held the post since 2008.
Veljanoski was the sole candidate for Parliament Speaker nominated by the Committee on Election and Appointment Issues.
Addressing the MPs, Veljanoski called on state unity urging the opposition legislators to act in line with the Constitution and law i.e. to show up in Parliament. Democracy, he said, recognizes no other way to work other than argumented debate and mutual respect.
"I express satisfaction with the fact that more than 2/3 of MPs at this constitutive session manifested their respect towards the citizens who had voted for them by being here doing their job. However, I would like also to express my profound disappointment that the deputies of a coalition, disappointed with public support, who had decided not to execute their responsible tasks. Being the first amongst equals, I call on state unity," the newly-elected Parliament Speaker stressed.
In the past two terms as president of the Macedonian legislative body, Veljanovski added, I believe that all MPs and I had contributed immensely to advancing the country.
"In the period ahead of us, we will be facing new challenges. I vow the Parliament will continue upgrading Macedonia's democracy more fervently. Integration into the European Union and state reforms are our primary goal," he noted.
We must keep on working to obtain even better EU progress reports, reform the military and all other relevant segments in a bid to upgrade the NATO standards, nourish high patriotic sentiment and state liability in solving complex international challenges, such as the name dispute," said Veljanoski amongst other things.
Earlier in the day, at a constitutive session of the Macedonian eighth parliament, the mandates of 123 MPs were verified even though SDSM and its coalition together with NDP had refused to accept them.
