Debate on constitutional revision in FYROM delayed

A parliamentary session on the constitutional revision in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) was put on hold for several hours on Friday as the government scrambled to secure the required majority of 80 lawmakers to proceed with the vote.

News agency MIA reported that the two-thirds majority has been secured, but main opposition VMRO-DPME lawmakers urged parliamentary speaker Talat Xhaferi to confirm that the procedure has failed.

If the first vote is successful, then two more will follow in the next 20 days which will also have to secure the backing of 80 MPs.

The revision of the constitution is part of an agreement signed with Greece last June to resolve the decades-old dispute over the country's name that has blocked FYROM from joining NATO and the European Union.