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THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS AND REAL ROLE IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM-DILEMMAS AND CHALLENGES

J. Shasivari

Abstract

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia is a representative body of the citizens and the legislative power of the Republic is vested in it. The organization and functioning of the Parliament are regulated by the Constitution and by the Rules of Procedure. As a representative body, the Parliament decides on behalf of the citizens based on the will of the electoral body and of the trust during the time of its mandate, therefore, the Parliament is a legal sovereign, whereas the citizens are political sovereigns. However, in practice, the position of the Parliament depends on the legal framework of its powers, and the very different characteristics of the holders of other political institutions and their relations. Therefore, in this paper the author treats the theoretical and practical constitutional aspects of the position and the functions of the Parliament of RM and its relation with the Government of RM, in light of the apparent aim of executive dominance over the Parliament in the current reality of the political system of RM. In the Republic of Macedonia, as one of the countries in transition, the authority and the integrity of the Parliament is very important for the legitimacy of institutions and for democratic consolidation. Unfortunately, the Parliament of this country has been a marginalized institution because this issue mainly depends on the political will of the executive power to leave the political space to the legislature to act and the political will of the MPs to use their parliamentary rights. However, in practice, the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia acts more like a simple voting machine on Government proposals, without real discussions and confrontation of arguments. This is because, at a considerable extent, the MP does not decide according to his own convictions, but according to the conviction of the party leader, even though according to the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, the MP represents the citizens and in the Parliament, he is expected to decide based on his own convictions.

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