Shukova: The government spends millions on celebrations while citizens live on 26,000 denars

SDSM presidency member Kaja Shukova has accused the VMRO-DPMNE government of spending millions of euros on celebrations, while the citizens of North Macedonia survive on around 26,000 denars a month. Appearing on the show “24 analiza” on TV 24, she said the authorities are taking no serious measures against the rising cost of living, which is weighing more heavily on family budgets every day, Racin reports.

According to Shukova, the minimum union basket is approaching 70,000 denars, while families paying rent face monthly expenses of over 90,000 denars — against a minimum wage of around 26,000 denars. In this situation, SDSM will submit to Parliament for the third time the proposal for a €600 minimum wage. Instead, she said, the public debate is dominated by the €5.5 million spent on the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of independence — money that, in her view, could have been directed to the most vulnerable social categories. She also warned about the state’s new borrowing and the Hungarian loan, demanding that the public receive accurate information about its terms, distribution and manner of spending.

On the internal party front, Shukova announced that the Central Board has elected Goran Gerasimovski, mayor of the Centar municipality, as the new vice president. Regarding the “Platform 12.5” of former SDSM officials, she asked where its initiators were when the party was stabilizing and preparing for the local elections, adding that SDSM’s doors are open to every member, but all issues are discussed in the party’s bodies in Bihaqka, not through social networks and the media.

She also criticized the fact that a private arms-sector company paid $1.5 million for lobbying services with the VMRO-DPMNE-led government: “It is normal for a government to have lobbyists in a foreign country and to pay the expenses itself; it is not normal for a private company to pay lobbyists for a government abroad,” she said.

In closing, Shukova said SDSM will support any serious initiative to unblock North Macedonia’s European path — recalling that VMRO-DPMNE created expectations before the elections that it could change the negotiating framework, but failed. She said she does not expect early parliamentary elections, quoting president Venko Filipče that “early elections will happen when there is no money left in the budget”, due to the high deficit, and called on parliamentary groups to constitute without delay the Inquiry Commission for the tragedy of the “Puls” discotheque in Kočan.