Skopje, 19th December 2012 (MIA) – Proposal of the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia to unblock the 2013 Budget adoption, presented today at the coordination meeting at the Parliament, is acceptable to the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zoran Stavreski.

– We will carefully consider all amendments and where we consider that an amendment submitted fits to the general framework, to the concept imposed in the past several years, meaning improvement of the life of the citizens, enabling economic development, supporting the economy and the country to move forward, we will give our positive opinion, of course, within the financial possibilities and within the funds available. I hope the citizens will does recognize that VMRO-DPMNE is a constructive, above all, accountable party, taking care of the interest of the citizens the most. We would not like for the country to be led into crisis, as Branko Crvenkovski wants, in a politically irresponsible manner, who puts the interests of all citizens in the Republic of Macedonia at stake due to problems in his party and due to personal interests. In troubled times when we all face the challenges of the global and the economic crisis, he additionally creates unnecessary chaos and uncertainty, Stavreski said.

His expectations, as he said, were that there would probably be amendments to be positively replied to, however, it should be still waited by tomorrow.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said that all amendments would be replied to by tomorrow, after which the parliamentary commissions were to complete their part of work.

– This proposal is acceptable to us, i.e. it is aimed at seeking solution in this situation and it presents a step forward being undertaken by VMRO-DPMNE, Stavreski said.

As he said, this showed that the Government was willing to overcome the crisis imposed by Crvenkovski, which led the country to crisis, including the pensioners, farmers, social welfare beneficiaries, the business sector, ….

– It is an irresponsible and a scandalous behavior by a politician, a leader of the main opposition party like no party in Europe, Minister of Finance said, adding that their goal, under the present circumstances, was to try to be constructive and find solutions.

He expressed hope that it would be one of the ways to unblock the work of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and to adopt the Budget within the set deadline.

– It would certainly be the best for both Commissions, through an amendment-related debate, to provide for this, however, taking into account that the work of both Commissions is blocked, it is obvious that amendments cannot be discussed at the Commissions. For us and for the democracy in the Republic of Macedonia, it is important for the process of discussing the amendments to be completed and the Budget to be adopted within the set deadline and the concept as proposed, Vice Prime Minister Stavreski said.

When asked about the amendments discussion, he said that it depended on the work of the Commissions, adding that at the coordinative meeting, Presidents of both Commissions in the Parliament said that they were blocked.

He appealed once again to the opposition not to prevent the Budget adoption and not to put the social and the development dimension of the Budget into question.

– There is inconsistency in SDSM’s attitude. They first came up with 1,226 amendments as an opposition, which meant 2.5 new Budgets. If one had such an approach, we would need not only to borrow from the World Bank, but also more funds. Afterwards, they submitted another proposal, requesting for cuts in the total Budget and the budget deficit therein. This shows no consistency in policies, but rather a need to shift the policies, depending on the daily political situation and the needs of Crvenkovski, Stavreski said.

Vice Prime Minister reiterated that there were two proposals aimed at unblocking the Budget during the coordinative meeting at the Parliament. The opposition, as Stavreski stated, rejected the first proposal, which actually included a timeframe for adoption of the amendments and acceleration of the discussion thereto.

In the past several days, the Financing and Budget Commission discussed only one amendment. So far, we have discussed only 156 out of 1,226 amendments.

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