Petty and grand corruption

Erol Rizaov

When does the first corruption in the Balkans and the beautiful Orient begin? The answer is likely to surprise you, but you will quickly make sure that we are all accomplices in building a sick society. In our beloved Macedonia, corruption begins with a mandatory infection from the bribe-mania before the child is born, the future citizen. It is so normal that so-called petty corruption becomes a sign of respect, a feeder like gratitude, a small tip. It is not a sin to immediately, at any time, urgently request for the head of the clinic, to choose a doctor, a midwife, anything you need. Of course, after coming to the world of his or her majesty, you bring some whiskey and chocolates, 200 grams of coffee, depending on your status, you can also have an artistic painting, it’s an unwritten rule, a holy custom, if you mess with it you will become an abominable miser, a niggard, a classic egotist, an idiot, a “tobacco bag”… who, imagine what kind of pressure he made, and raised the entire hospital on their feet, and did not even buy them coffee. Outrageous.

Then come the nurseries. Here, as well, nothing is left to chance. Which kindergarten, which nursing teacher, we must take serious actions for the baby to receive a VIP treatment. This baby was not found on the street, so it’s not at all shameful to ask for extra special care. Of course, we will not be indebted. We never forget to pay a little attention to the people who care about our babies. And so we get to the schools, where the children are already well-informed that praises and good grades are often given by some understandable criteria, when ignorance is worth more than knowledge. And so we are going through life and through schools, to higher education, to completion of faculties, to employment, to advancement of jobs, to starting a business, opening a shop, waiting before the counter, to going to court in search of Justice, until retirement. And finally, after you travel to the ‘other’ world, your heirs will have to sneak money into the pockets of those who will read the prayer for a happy journey to heaven. Amen.

This is that petty corruption that is a common law, and without which neither the system nor the family can operate. Remind yourself of how many times you bribed your own children. Yes, it’s hard to recognize when we are considered parental care in our country, at any price to push forward, so their children don’t bother for nothing.
In a painful society, large-scale corruption has a wide choice for recruiting staff. The right abundance, the bunch of people who are pretty easily master the discipline on how to make a bribe from the tip, how little attention in gratitude grows into a big business deal when you buy politicians on the market, in nice cabinets, with nice words and fair bargaining, police officers, journalists, judges, prosecutors, experts, professors, doctors, directors are all that can bring good money from which everyone is satisfied, those who corrupt and those who are corrupt. Why is it bad when everyone gains? It is the most cost-effective business in Macedonia. And what is especially important, these people were considered and still considered smart, successful, capable of everything. They know how to make money, whatever they touch they turn into gold. Unbelievable talents.

The big bosses in the opaque businesses corrupt governments, prime ministers, ministers, parliaments, police, courts, media, anti-corruption commissions… Basically, everything that is supposed to protect citizens from bullies is also submissive and in the service of criminals. How quickly they are rich, so hundreds of people are deafening faster. But it’s just one, less dark side. The other is horror. Major corruption is the engine of organized crime that builds a parallel system, and very often a regime in which the mafia is under the protection of the state, that is, those who should defend the state from criminals. Thus, the most important institutions on which a healthy society rests are destroyed. Wherever you turn, you will face a metastatic cancer that suffocates the entire society. Hundreds of millions of euros annually end up with traffickers with death in health. In schooling and in the overall education, diplomas and titles have a price list. The judiciary is ruling and progressing according to political and party eligibility and obedience. In journalism there is no need to research much, it is enough to read and hear the written, you will quickly be clear. Any criticism addressed to corrupt authorities and centers of power is accompanied by demonization and proclamation of enemies, traitors, and foreign mercenaries. Human rights and freedoms, morality and responsibility are proclaimed as common nonsense preached by various non-governmental, read unfriendly and spying organizations, which work against state interests that are protected by organized crime holders. Macedonia survived such a period of captured state, it was an entire era of torture and abuse by criminal organizations at the top of the government.

When all this was discovered and brought to light before the public, it was going to take two years for a barely democratic path to fall into the regime that was a bit lacking to get a “centenary mandate”. And after falling, it was necessary to spend another year to start the liberation of the state and the rule of justice. If it was not for the bloody coup attempt on April 27, I wonder if it would have come to the change of power. That’s why there are strong reactions to the petty and grand corruption in the liberated media. So it should be. It’s a good prevention. Criminal monsters should be eliminated when they are in an embryonic phase. Petty bribe-maniacs become the main bosses of major corruption and mafia bosses. But I have the impression that the attention of the public is now more focused on the petty corruption and the mistakes of the current government, which is very good, but it is rather ill-advised that the court procedure with the perpetrators of the crime in the era of Gruevism is rather soft and disinterested. Very bad. He even calls for their return.

Is there a way out? Can a metastasized painful society be saved? Of course it can and is already being applied, but unfortunately, it goes very slowly. One of the good solutions is abandoned, and that is the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office not to become part of the regular public prosecutor’s office. Katica Janeva and her team were supposed to get more authority. In addition to cooperation with regular prosecutors and all court instances, the Special Prosecutor’s Office should have its own police, investigators, a number of prosecutors and all that is available to Laura Kövesi, the special prosecutor in Romania. In 2017, Laura’s Directorate of the Office brought 1,000 Romanian officials to corruption charges, including three ministers, six MPs, and a former parliament speaker. Laura Kövesi, in her report on last year’s operation, said she had prosecuted 713 officials, 28 mayors, 38 heads of public institutions and one senator. This is what Macedonia needs, although the achievements of our Special Prosecutor’s Office should be respected.