President Ivanov Refuses to Use New Macedonia Name

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  • Tomche Makedonche
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2011
    • 1123

    President Ivanov Refuses to Use New Macedonia Name

    Outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov’s refusal to sign documents that include the country’s new name, North Macedonia, is threatening to cause institutional gridlock.


    President Ivanov Refuses to Use New Macedonia Name

    Outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov’s refusal to sign documents that include the country’s new name, North Macedonia, is threatening to cause institutional gridlock.

    North Macedonia’s outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov is refusing to sign 11 laws that were recently adopted by parliament that use the country’s new name, North Macedonia, or to change the name of his own office accordingly.

    Among the laws that Ivanov recently returned to parliament unsigned are some key EU-sought reform provisions, the parliament’s press office said.

    The press office said that the president did not sign six provisions that were adopted at a parliamentary session held on February 28, including one that envisages the formation of a new Operational Technical Agency, which is part of the EU’s long-sought reforms to the country’s security services. The agency will look after the technical aspects of wiretapping.

    Ivanov has also not signed five other provisions that parliament adopted on March 4 and 6, including one about taking a loan from the World Bank, as well as a provision that changes the Access to Public Information Law.

    Technically, parliament now has the option to vote on these provisions for a second time, which would obligate the president to sign them.
    But the laws do not stipulate a deadline for the president to do so, meaning that he could leave them unsigned indefinitely.

    A more realistic option is that all of these laws and provisions, and possibly others, may have to wait after the April-May presidential elections to get approved by the next president.

    But the postponement may harm the country’s chances of getting a date set for its EU accession talks to open in June.

    In a clarification that President Ivanov sent to the parliament along with the unsigned laws, he said that he would always act according to a pledge he gave five years ago when he was appointed to “protect the Constitution and defend the interests of Republic of Macedonia.”

    Parliament in October passed a government motion for the constitution to be amended to allow the country’s name to be changed to the Republic of North Macedonia – as required under the country’s historic agreement with Greece.

    The country started using the new name in early February after the Greek parliament approved its accession to NATO.

    The president, whose is a strong opponent of the name agreement, has been the only official who has not accepted it.

    In his official correspondence, logos, memos, and web page, the presidential office is still using the country’s old name, the Republic of Macedonia.

    The Official Gazette, which publishes official decisions, announced last week that it will no longer publish the president’s decrees and decisions until the presidency amends its name.
    “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop, and you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all” - Mario Savio
  • Soldier of Macedon
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2008
    • 13670

    #2
    So he retains a shred of integrity. Yet....
    Originally posted by Tomche Makedonche View Post
    In a clarification that President Ivanov sent to the parliament along with the unsigned laws, he said that he would always act according to a pledge he gave five years ago when he was appointed to “protect the Constitution and defend the interests of Republic of Macedonia.
    Protection implies action. What he’s doing is inaction, which is more disobedience than protection. And I wonder how he will conduct himself if the DPNE candidate, who appears to have his support, goes along with the “new” constitution. I’m guessing more silence and inaction.
    In the name of the blood and the sun, the dagger and the gun, Christ protect this soldier, a lion and a Macedonian.

    Comment

    • Risto the Great
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2008
      • 15658

      #3
      North Macedonia, persistently underwhelming.
      Risto the Great
      MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
      "Holding my breath for the revolution."

      Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

      Comment

      • Gocka
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2012
        • 2306

        #4
        Ivanov is a real life muppet. Easily one of the most frustrating people in modern Macedonian politics. Usually saying the right things but constantly doing the wrong ones.

        Comment

        • Risto the Great
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2008
          • 15658

          #5
          He is doing nothing actually wrong. It's just that he's doing nothing.
          Risto the Great
          MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
          "Holding my breath for the revolution."

          Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

          Comment

          • Risto the Great
            Senior Member
            • Sep 2008
            • 15658

            #6
            Ivanov quietly buys two apartments in elite Vodno on 1,500 euro/month salary



            After ending his mandate as president at his presidential villa in Vodno (a mountainous elite neighborhood in Vodno) Ivanov and his family will not move away from the neighborhood, instead, they will move just up the road where they purchased two apartments on a modest 1,500/month salary.

            Vodno has by far the most expensive real-estate in the Macedonian capital, where prices can range from 1,700 to 3,500 euros per sq/m depending on the location.

            Both apartments were purchased in the name of Ivanov’s son. Silence and inaction pays.

            Another example of a politician who made a large purchase/investment is Zaev’s current chief advisor Bojan Maricik (who became known for his verbal ebola on Al Jazeera ). Maricik’s parents haven’t worked for 20 years, while he was Zaev’s errand boy during the pretend name negotiations with Athens. For his ‘service’ he was paid enough money to allow him to start building a large apartment complex in the elite Skopje neighborhood of Debar Maalo. MINA estimated for such building, over 1.8m euros were needed.
            Risto the Great
            MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
            "Holding my breath for the revolution."

            Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

            Comment

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