The Deputy President of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Radmila Šekerinska, said she sees a “political plan” behind Thursday’s clashes inside FYROM’s parliament and blamed the “system” of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski and the political decisions of FYROM President Gjorge Ivanov for the escalation of political tensions in the country.

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters stormed the Parliament in Skopje and attacked MPs, among which, Šekerinska.

Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), she said the only solution is to allow the institutions to do their job and elect a new government.

Q: Who is responsible for the clashes in the parliament on Thursday?

SEK: “There’s no doubt the plan was political and that the implementation of the plan shows there is still a usurpation of state institutions. Yesterday, in front of the parliament, while the new president was being elected, there were 600 people. Six hundred people cannot storm the parliament. We had huge crowds in the past in front of the parliament. We had 50,000-70,000 people. There was never any idea of storming the parliament, but even if there were, police was there to prevent violence. Yesterday there were only a few police forces scattered around the parliament who essentially allowed protesters to invade.
We have very strong indications but also some evidence that the head of state security, who was the key person in the organization of security around parliament, is behind this plan. Why? Because if you compare the behavior of the police – let’s say- three years ago, it used all precautionary measures. We heard the parliament’s security complain that they were left, not just alone, but when they tried to contact the ministry of interior, nobody answered […] The man who has responsible for security is one of Gruevski’s right-hand men. It’s clear they’re in this together; and not all VMRO MPs, but some of them knew about the plan.”

Q: Why did you decide to abstain from the meeting of political leaders which was called on Friday by the president (Ivanov)?

SEK: “It was Ivanov’s political decisions that led us to this. His attempt to give absolution to all corrupt politicians last year was the first step. The second step was what he has been doing in the last three months. He violates his clear constitutional duty. One of the clearest points of our Constitution is that the President is obliged to mandate the party or parties that have the majority in the parliament to form a government. His violation of the Constitution was what contributed to this violence. Yesterday he made a statement but didn’t attempt to condemn the violence; the fact that more than ten lawmakers were injured […] The attack against the parliament or against elected lawmakers is an attack against democracy. And it is clear Gruevski’s plan was to silence democracy. They thought that after that we would leave and stay silent. But that would be a victory of violence and of a corrupt regime.”

Q: Is there a way out of this situation?

SEK: “There is. We must allow the institutions to do their job. The parliament must do its work. A new government will have to be elected. This may not solve the problems but at least we will have the tools to start dealing with the problems. Unfortunately, when you incite violence in this way, you create divisions inside the country.
It will be the responsibility of our own reformist government to try to soften these dividing lines. We were almost killed by a group of people who were beating us on behalf of Gruevski. But there were quite a few people among the crowd that protected us. And I see this as a ray of hope.”

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