Counter-spin: The selective signing of decrees is a strong indicator of Ivanov’s inconsistency

President Ivanov justifies his failure to sign decrees making the already passed laws official with the oath of office he took. He says the oath back then stated he would defend the interests and the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, not the Republic of North Macedonia. This is a manipulation. The essence of the oath doesn’t lie within the changed name of the country or parts of the Constitution, but in the respect of the true interests of the country whose President he is, including the constitutional obligation not to filibuster the laws some of whom adopted by a two thirds majority or even by a consensus vote

Author: Teofil Blazhevski

The failure to sign 11 decrees into laws, already passed by the Parliament, three of which were passed by a majority of two thirds or a consensus between the Government and the opposition, was justified by President Gjorgje Ivanov as follows, and we deem it a spin:

Ivanov didn’t sign a Decree for promulgation of 11 laws because of the new name Republic of North Macedonia… As he justifies it, Ivanov didn’t sign the decrees because while in office he has always acted in accordance with the solemn oath to protect the Constitution, and as he says, the interests of the Republic of Macedonia

[Source: A1On – Ставот на Иванов за името… – date: 12 March 2019]

Counter-spin: On 12 March 2019, a number of media outlets reported on the failure of the President Gjorgje Ivanov to sign decrees for 11 laws already adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). The brief press release had been given to the media by the Cabinet of the Parliament’s Speaker, Talat Xhaferi, and we have no reason to doubt that.

However, given the justification, we do have grounds to consider such a move of the President Ivanov as a classic truth-spinning.

The explanation justifying this claim is simple, and two media outlets already touched upon it as they analyzed President’s actions.

In the article about the newly developed situation “Кохабитацијата ќе чкрипи до крај. Иванов заминува со куфер полн со вета”, Nezavisen daily refers to a period not long ago when Ivanov didn’t return a single law passed by the former government comprised of VMRO-DPMNE and DUI, not even when they were passing problematic laws, like for example the Law on Construction that was amended more than 20 times back then, mostly due to corruption i.e. to satisfy the corruptive appetites of the former government, or the Law on Higher Education, which triggered the academia to take to the streets.

On the other hand, in its article titled Ставот на Иванов за името го блокира патот кон ЕУ, A1On concludes that VMRO-DPMNE leader Kristijan Mickoski’s and VMRO-DPMNE’s positions on Katica Janeva and Special Prosecutor’s Office fate are not the only hurdle to fulfill EU’s request on adopting multiple reform laws by a set point in the future, and now Ivanov himself appears as a hurdle in this story. What’s more, 3 of these 11 laws are passed with a majority of two thirds and contain reforms concerning important areas, such as the Law on Courts for instance.

The newly developed situation and Ivanov’s short justification about the presidential oath binding him to comply with the Constitution of the country named Republic of Macedonia, not the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as that he would protect the interests of the RM, not RNM, made his entire inconsistency come under the spotlight.

Because, the essence of the presidential oath is not that you are going to defend the Constitution of the RM and interests of the RM, but the essence is that you are truly going to defend the Constitution and the interests of the country. That’s why one could ask how come he is okay being paid by the Republic of North Macedonia, as well okay in enjoying the privileges he has and will have thanks to the laws? Therefore, the problem doesn’t lie within the formal side of the oath and Ivanov’s justification, but in the essence of the oath relating to the Constitution and the interests of the country.

Hence, Ivanov is being manipulative, without a doubt. Let us remind that when he was seemingly defending the Constitution of the RM and the interests of the country, he pardoned more than 50 people involved in SPO’s investigations and indictments, causing huge damage to the same country he swore to defend and respect. A few weeks later, he annulled his own decision with the amendment to the Pardon Law, which was an unprecedented salto mortale.

By seemingly defending the Constitution of the RM and protecting the interests of the country, Ivanov refused to entrust the mandate to the coalition formed after the December 2016 elections. This move complicated the political situation to the extent that it almost led to the events of 27 April 2017 and the “Bloody Thursday”, since VMRO-DPMNE, through Trajko Veljanovski as a Speaker of the Parliament at the time, blatantly followed Ivanov’s example and wouldn’t allow a peaceful transfer of power in accordance with the Constitution and the interests of the country.

Therefore, we reiterate, the aforementioned examples, as well as the objective commentary of the cited media, remove any doubt that Ivanov manipulates when explaining why he doesn’t sign the laws. With that said, Ivanov virtually confirms his consistency in being inconsistent!!

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