LSDM: Public Kept in the Dark for Five Days Over Poisoning of Gostivar Residents

LSDM has accused OBRM-PDUKM of only now learning what an investigation and the protection of confidential information entail. According to the party, when Mickoski seeks to threaten a political opponent, he invokes his “instincts” and openly calls for investigations to be launched, both from the parliamentary rostrum and through the media.

“But when responsibility must be established for the poisoning of residents in Gostivar, those ‘instincts’ suddenly disappear and everything is declared ‘confidential’ or ‘under investigation.’ Information about the poisoning was not disclosed to the public for five days. Throughout that time, institutions controlled by OBRM-PDUKM remained silent and took no action,” LSDM said.

According to the party, after it emerged that the case had been kept secret, OBRM-PDUKM is now trying to shift the debate toward the “confidentiality of information” instead of taking responsibility. LSDM asked why the Prosecutor’s Office did not publish the water test results, whom it was protecting, and who poisoned the water that entered the water supply network.

“If OBRM-PDUKM truly believes in investigations and confidentiality, it must explain why the health minister and the health inspectorates remained silent for five days. It must also say why the test results were concealed from the public,” LSDM stressed.

In its response, the party claimed that OBRM-PDUKM has an “instinct” only when it needs to attack, while whenever answers are sought over incompetence and the cover-up of the case, everything is immediately labeled an “investigation” and “confidential.” “The residents of Gostivar are not asking for excuses, but for accountability. It cannot be hidden behind the terms ‘confidentiality’ and ‘investigation,’” LSDM said.