Ahmeti angry at Zaev and Mickoski – Census uncertain due to two issues

Only a day after DUI’s leader Ali Ahmeti expressed disgust over the events related to the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office and reiterated once again that the vetting for all holders of public office must be mandatory, the member of the Judicial Council, Miljazim Mustafa, who is considered close to DUI, postponed the voting for dismissal of the President of the Supreme Court, Jovo Vangelovski. The disappointment in Mala Recica and the demands for non-selective justice come at the same time when their advisor in Ohrid defies all laws and solemnly opens his illegal construction – a pizza place, exasperating UNESCO, as well.
In fact, Ahmeti’s sensitivity is particularly noticeable after the “bombs” that El Cheka throws from the United States, which refer to the activities of senior members of the party.
“I am sorry for the wiretapped conversations that are being published for DUI. I do not listen to those conversations. But how is it that there aren’t any private talks published for members of SDSM or VMRO-DPMNE, but only for members of DUI? Where are the other conversations? Why are private conversations published only by DUI members? I think our citizens are not naïve. What did SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE do? They have devalued the entire process. Even the ‘Racket’ case. And we warned that we do not want selective justice. We want vetting, justice applies equally to all, “Ahmeti said.

We don’t have to agree on all issues, but we must sit down and talk

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev yesterday responded that he did not know why El Cheka is releasing “bombs” only for Ahmeti and DUI. He said that if he had his number, he would ring up and ask him, and then threaten to respond because he was broadcasting unlawfully wiretapped conversations.
“And hurry up while you can, because I promise that you will be held responsible,” Zaev said.
Shekerim Ameti a.k.a. El Cheka responded that the Prime Minister is nervous because his the racketeering business with the SPO has failed.
The vetting will be one of the topics that will be discussed at Friday’s leaders’ meeting that will be held despite VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski’s refusal to attend. But this topic will not be the key one, because the census, the law on prosecution and the election model are the priority topics in the talks between Zaev, Ahmeti and Zijadin Sela, leader of the Alliance for Albanians. The Government’s president called on Mickoski yesterday, announcing that he is ready to discuss early parliamentary elections, but stressed that “he does not intend to grant wishes for early elections”.
“I am prepared to talk on what Mickoski insists. We might not agree on all issues, but we need to talk first. We are obliged to do this We cannot be a normal country if the leaders do not sit down to discuss the census, because it cannot be postponed for another ten years. We need to sit down and round off any reservations that some might have to guarantee a successful census process. We need to clear up all dilemmas and guarantee a successful census. The country desperately needs this census, because of the economic parameters, the next stage of the decentralization process, fair distribution by regions, health and education policies. I know no arguments to avoid this issue”, said SDSM president.
According to the prime minister, Mickoski wants to discuss early elections, but they first need to agree on the Electoral Code, for which ODIHR also made recommendations. As for the Law on Public Prosecution, Zaev stressed that it was not only his obligation.
“All of us who are committed to the rule of law should not allow for the law not to be passed. Mickoski says he would destroy the law. Why, because of the investigation on high-level corruption of VMRO-DPMNE officials? Everyone is equal before the law,” added PM Zaev.

The SPO cannot be a separate institution

However, VMRO-DPMNE yesterday maintained that their leader had no reason to sit at the same table with Zaev, pointing to the “Racket” case, which, according to the opposition party, is a classic example of how the cooperation between Zaev and the SPO worked.
“‘Kiki’ and ‘Friki’ from the racketeering stories are laughing because they are high officials and close collaborators of Zoran Zaev. They know his crimes and therefore there is no political agreement for them to apply the law for the time being. A criminal gang is ruling with Macedonia and the only topic that they would discuss with him is the dissolution of the parliament, the establishment of a technical government and the organization of urgent elections,” VMRO-DPMNE said.
However, their teams are still working on the preparation of the new Law on Prosecution and there will be no place for the SPO as a separate institution after the end of the mandate in September this year. This is one of the key points of the government’s stumbling, which, together with Brussels, the SPO should remain a separate institution with its own budget and independence. VMRO-DPMNE assure that there is no room for compromise when it comes to the SPO, because it has been compromised and cannot continue to exist, at least not in this form.
When it comes to the census, working groups of the government and the opposition, which even met a few days ago, were also formed.
“The meeting was absolutely unsuccessful, our attitudes are diametrically opposed. We cannot accept for the census to be done on personal identification numbers, not for residents, as it is done everywhere in the world. So, those who have an address of residence in the country should be enumerated, and not one family member to register all those with their ID numbers, and they have been resettled for years and years. Second, we ask the enumerators to be paired, both Macedonian and Albanian, so that we can get objective figures. If there is no agreement, we will not participate in such a census and we will call for a boycott,” VMRO-DPMNE sources told Nezavisen Vesnik/Independent Daily newspaper. SDSM, however, is confident that in the main opposition party they are deliberately looks for disagreement so that the census could not be conducted.
“The census is negotiated with Eurostat, the overall preparation is professional, transparent and according to all international standards. We announced it last year; this year we conducted a pre-census, which exceeded our expectations. It is sad that we have not has a census since 2002. VMRO-DPMNE has no credibility to talk on the subject, because the party was in power for 11 years, and failed to organize a census. On the contrary, the one they started organizing was interrupted by political games. They simply cannot understand that we are talking about a statistical, not a political operation,” responded the Government on Bihac Street.

Goran Adamovski