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Macedonian Parliament Speaker says regrets removal of journalists from parliament session

27 December 2012 03:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Macedonian Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski on Wednesday expressed regret over the removal of journalists before commencing of the Dec. 24 session, saying that the decision on such move was made by the official security service in favor of preventing more serious incident, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Macedonia's ruling coalition passed the 2013 budget Monday, without the presence of the opposition MPs who were reported to have scuffled with pro-government counterparts to try to prevent a debate on the budget before they were evicted.

Outside the Parliament, police tried to prevent clashes between thousands of pro- and anti-government protesters who were throwing stones, eggs and bottles at each other.

"Considering the announcements that the opposition intended to prevent the budget adoption and organize protests, I, in line with the Assembly Law - Article 43, asked the parliament's security to provide conditions for regular course of the session," he said in a written statement.

Veljanoski reminded that the Parliament's security service is in charge of undertaking necessary measures.

"I wish to point out that at the beginning the journalists were present at the gallery of the plenary hall. After the first incident, when I, as the Parliament Speaker, was attacked and the technical equipment was demolished and the security had to evacuate me," said the Parliament Speaker.

"The parliament's security service, considering that the gallery is part of the plenary hall, estimated that it should be empty in favor of preventing more serious incident," Veljanoski's statement reads.

"I regret this assessment and request from the relevant institution to investigate the developments and determine who was responsible for them," he said.