Mickoski: Unfortunately, the rule of law is still lacking, I expect all scandals to be clarified

According to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, citizens’ perception of the rule of law remains systematically burdened because, as he said, there is no rule of law in the country, only bargaining in justice.

Speaking on “RTVM,” Mickoski said he is not satisfied with the judicial system and stressed that he expects all scandals to come to light, because only then can citizens change their views regarding trust in the justice institutions.

He mentioned three events from the past that, according to him, produced such a problem and left serious consequences in the justice system, consequences that will continue to be felt for some time. The first is linked to the period when VMRO-DPMNE was the largest opposition party outside Parliament, after the 1994 elections, or to the well-known process of appointing judges during the 1994–1998 government.

Mickoski said that process represented a complete partisan takeover of the judicial system by the government of the time. According to him, the second problem is connected to the SJO and all the circumstances that preceded and followed its creation. He recalled the Przhino Agreements and the negotiations of 2015–2016, from which, as he said, that “implant” was created as a political compromise, while later everything turned into injustice. He further added that another government used that institution as a political tool to exert pressure on political opponents, then the opposition, or to pursue personal or political interests.

He did not want to comment on the way the former special public prosecutor, from prison, practically handed over her powers to the State Public Prosecutor’s Office, and then the former state public prosecutor, or more precisely the predecessor of the last prosecutor, transferred them to prosecutors who had come from the now-dissolved SJO.

Mickoski also recalled the way it was initially presented, backed by acclamation from the international community and partly financed by it, with high expectations that it would bring justice and values. He said everyone knows how it all ended and that, to show their narrow character, even the bonuses remain unresolved and, to this day, have not reached an epilogue, Mickoski said./Telegrafi/