SDSM announces interpellations for Assembly president Afrim Gashi and minister Ivan Stoiljkovic; minister rejects allegations as fabricated

SDSM leader Venko Filipche announced that his party will file interpellations against the Assembly president, Afrim Gashi, and the Minister of Local Self-Government, Ivan Stoiljkovic, immediately after MPs return from their summer recess. Filipche said Gashi’s conduct will be reviewed for repeated breaches of the Assembly’s rules of procedure, and SDSM will back DUI’s demand to form an inquiry commission into the incident involving Stoiljkovic following the session on the government reconstruction.

Filipche accused the legislature of being reduced to a “voting machine” and said parliamentary procedure is frequently violated, with laws passed under shortened procedures and opposition proposals blocked through procedural maneuvers. “The Assembly has been turned into a voting machine, it is not respected as an institution at all. The Rules of Procedure are often violated, laws are adopted by shortened procedure, and our proposals are not placed on the agenda through various procedural games. We will continue to fight with all democratic and parliamentary mechanisms and will seek accountability from holders of public office. The behaviour of Stoiljkovic is unacceptable, there is no place for violence and threats in democratic institutions,” he said.

Allegations and denials

The opposition claims that Minister Stoiljkovic insulted and swore at opposition MPs and nearly came to blows with MP Mitko Trajchulevski. DUI has requested recordings, saying that during a break Stoiljkovic attacked their MP Arbana Pasholli inside the MPs’ club at the Assembly. The minister has denied the accusations.

“You don’t answer phantasmagorias. How can you respond to made‑up things? Someone can invent that I did something… How can I say that she insulted me, which is not true at all. I neither spoke with her nor had physical contact; how can I deny something that didn’t happen? I leave that to them,” Ivan Stoiljkovic, Minister of Local Self‑Government, said.

The opposition also announced intentions to use all parliamentary means to block the bill declaring Skopje a European Capital of Culture.

On the same press meeting Filipche warned of a severe economic downturn this autumn, linking potential rises in electricity prices to the low water levels on the Danube and warning that the war in Iran could push fuel costs higher. He also criticised the government’s response to water pollution in Gostivar as “a pure improvisation and a belated reaction” and asked whether wells feeding into Rashche from the Vardar and Lepenec rivers are being checked.

Filipche challenged institutions to investigate prior reports from the Institute for Public Health that, he said, indicated contaminated water in some places while he served as health minister, though he maintained that there was no epidemic or contamination on the scale of what he described as the current situation.

He called the Hungarian loan probe a major scandal and demanded an inquiry into how the funds were requested and spent. Filipche also said he was unaware of any “under‑the‑radar” talks to unblock the country’s EU path despite EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas saying a solution is being sought; he warned that continued stagnation could risk North Macedonia being omitted from the EU’s next seven‑year budget cycle.

Photo: press material from the event