Wednesday, 17 May 2017
PARLIAMENT SPEAKER XHAFERI MEETS CANADA’S AMBASSADOR PINNINGTON
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, held an official meeting today with Canada’s Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Philip Phinnington, who emphasized that Canada was among the first countries to congratulate Mr. Talat Xhaferi on being elected President of the Assembly, and which clearly and visibly expressed its support for the democratic changes in the country during the transition of power.
This was a first step towards settling the political crisis and one of many others in the important processes to follow. Canada will continue to support the Republic of Macedonia and its citizens in the democratic social processes and it will serve as Macedonia’s staunch partner at an international level.
Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi thanked for the congratulations and voiced his belief that the bilateral relations between the Republic of Macedonia and Canada will continue in the future with even greater intensity and quality. Referring to the deplorable events of 27 April in the Assembly, Parliament Speaker Xhaferi said that he believes in justice and in the system where all those involved should be held accountable and urged everyone to demonstrate that this cannot happen again or go unpunished.
In relation to current political developments and considering the fact that today the President of Macedonia has fulfilled his constitutional obligation and has granted the mandate to the party with parliamentary majority, Mr. Talat Xhaferi underlined that this marks the beginning of the government formation process and the constitution process of parliamentary bodies. The next steps in the work of the Assembly will follow this direction, but the Assembly will also work towards adopting certain foreseen modifications to the Electoral Code and the Law on Local Self-Government in context of the local elections scheduled this fall.
Voicing support for further and closer inter-parliamentary cooperation, interlocutors agreed that the established friendly relations should be fostered with strong commitment and mutual trust.