First elections, then the SPO law


It is less likely that the law on public prosecution, which regulates the status of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, will be passed before May 5, ie before the second round of the presidential elections. In this regard, the information coming from the negotiating teams in the Ministry of Justice, which does not show much optimism that an agreement on the prospects of the SPO will be reached any time soon.

Although opposition party VMRO-DPMNE and the ruling parties met and sat down yesterday together at the negotiating table, in their fourth attempt to bring their positions closer, prosecutors’ estimates are that this issue will be difficult to close soon. On the contrary, the passing of the law on public prosecution could be delayed by the end of May, ie be voted in the last minute – just before the EU summit, where the EU will decide on the start of accession talks with our country. This possibility is also referred to by the current practice, according to which the key regulations, for which they need to provide consensus, are regularly adopted at the last minute.

Before the start of the campaign, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi also announced that he did not plan on scheduling a session in the pre-election period for passing the law on public prosecution, if in the meantime an agreement between the parties is reached. Xhaferi’s explanation was that the remaining reform laws, including those on security-intelligence sector reform and part of the administration, which were passed only in the first reading, could also be adopted after the elections, given that the summit the EU will be in June. The opposition also noted concerns about security sector laws and voted restrained in the first phase, so parties’ talks to resume some of the disputed provisions continued. The Law on Public Prosecutor’s Office, however, is envisaged to be passed in a short-track procedure, although it should also provide for a two-thirds majority.

The Parliament Speaker announced that during the campaign he plans to schedule only one session to revalue the laws passed by the Parliament last Wednesday, and which President Gjorge Ivanov returned with the MPs, as he did with the other laws that were adopted after the new name of the country entered into force. These laws should be passed by Parliament with a minimum of 61 votes and within thirty days after they have been returned to Parliament. Today, however, the deadline within which Ivanov should decide whether he would sign the laws or leave that duty to his successor, the future head of state.

Xhaferi’s announcement that he will wait to end the election sparked some disagreements between him and Justice Minister Renata Treneska-Deskoska. Although the disagreements were mainly due to the procedure, sources from the negotiating teams argue that DUI has certain reserves in relation to the SPO regulation that passed at a government session. This is also expected since the officials of this party are involved in some of the cases that resulted from the wiretapping, although in a far smaller number compared to former and current VMRO-DPMNE officials.
On the contrary, the government says that the arrangement of the status of the SPO is in line with the EU guidelines, from which they now insist on passing the law on the public prosecutor’s office as a key criterion for the start of accession talks. In addition, as one of the main criteria, the upcoming presidential elections have been imposed, while not only insisting on their regularity and democracy, but also on the success of the process that could be challenged in case of a low turnout in the second round on May 5. In case the elections end without the election of a new head of state, according to political circles, the expected adoption of the law on public prosecution can be in vain in relation to the EU decision to start negotiations.

– The recommendations we have received are very clear and publicized – that what the international community will appreciate as a positive step forward, as well as determination in the fight against crime and corruption, is sending a signal that any government should not be afraid of the fight against corruption because any type of unlawful action within any government should be punished by organizing a public prosecutor’s office that will prosecute the perpetrators of high corruption. Our law has been put in place as a Special Public Prosecutor’s Office that will maintain the existing capacities and will receive extended competencies and guarantees for its future activities, Minister Deskoska said yesterday before the new round of negotiations on the law on public prosecution.

Deskoska said that one can expect progress if the representatives of VMRO-DPMNE are willing to respect the recommendations of the international community, but if they remain on their positions, then there is no hope that something special would happen. She repeated that she disagreed that the mission and work of the SPO should stop, but that as a state we would send a serious message if we enable the permanent functioning of the SPO.

The Justice Minister added that they will make efforts to provide a two-thirds majority in the Parliament for the approval of this law.
– The question of the parliamentary groups and political parties is whether they will want to join the Euro-integration processes or will prioritize the protection of crime within their own ranks, Deskoska stressed.
Judge Margarita Caca Nikolovska believes that the SPO must continue to work in the direction of determining what was, and was not, a crime.
“We cannot accept that the wiretapped conversations were considered part of evidence, and now suddenly we decide that this evidence should be put aside,” said Caca Nikolovska.
Minister Deskoska yesterday announced the involvement of MP Antonio Milososki in the VMRO-DPMNE negotiating team on the law on public prosecution, although he is also suspected in one of the cases of the SPO. According to Deskoska, VMRO-DPMNE has a legitimate right to include Milososki, although he is one of the suspects in the “Powerman” investigation. The Minister said that his involvement in the VMRO-DPMNE negotiation team speaks of “their position and reservations” towards this problem that needs to be solved at the request of the European Commission, and as part of the reform processes that are given a short deadline.

According to the information, in the six-month draft amendments of VMRO-DPMNE, as a dominant request, it is set aside for closing the cases that were opened after 30 June 2017. One of the proposals is to leave the possibility for those cases to be opened by the regular prosecution, although, according to legal interpretations, it is very difficult to re-open a case that was once declared closed. In the event that this request of VMRO-DPMNE is accepted, which the Government considers to be a new attempt to pardon in an indirect way, then the opposition may have withdrawn from the proposal that the SPO should be a regular unit within the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

(AMM)