NEWS OF THE DAY: SCPC adopts and submits National Anti-Corruption Strategy to Parliament
The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) adopted the National Strategy for Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interests, which in the next five years should be implemented by the institutions, with the purpose of raising citizens’ trust in the system.
The President of the SCPC, Biljana Ivanovska, stated that employments, procurement process, control and oversight procedures are areas with most corruptive behaviour.
– As reasons for corruptive behaviour in these areas, we have concluded that political influence, lack of personal and institutional integrity, insufficient transparency, impunity, inconsistencies in the legal regulation are the strongest risk factors, stated Ivanovska.
Realization of the goals and measures of the strategy, she underlined, should increase citizens’ trust in the institutions of the system, efficiency in using public resources and strengthening democracy and social values.
– The main goals of the strategy are increasing the level of political responsibility and consciously managing political influence in the public sector and preventing polarizing influence in the work of the independent bodies, said Ivanovska, among else.
FLASH: The fight against corruption continues!
Xhabir Deralla: If at one time the fight against corruption was led by an institution under full dictatorship of the regime and served to hide the corruption of the Family, now we have a totally different SCPC, led by uncompromising Biljana Ivanovska and her colleagues, professional, experienced and determined people.
STATEMENT OF THE DAY: Dimov: Enforcement agents must respect the law
“The latest amendments to the Law on Enforcement Agents introduce new categories, and those being the socially disadvantaged categories. However, with the new law, people who receive an average salary are also considered a socially disadvantaged category. That means they will be protected in terms of the monthly earnings from the recent 1/3 of salary that executors can take, to only one fifth now”, stated for CIVIL Media Zoran Dimov, President of the Chamber of Executors, commenting on the new changes to the Law on Executors.
Zoran Dimov, Chamber of Enforcement Agents | photo: B. Jordanovska/CIVIL
The amendments to the Law on Enforcement that were adopted yesterday anticipate from one-third to one-fifth of salary or pension as limitations for enforcement for persons receiving an average salary or pension.
“Look, in terms of the extension of rights, the enforcement agents must respect the law that contains imperative provisions in that regard, and that is why we think that it will ease matters for the citizens” – says Dimov from the Chamber of Enforcement Agents.
POLITICALLY OKAY CORRAL: Legal changes for enforcement agents, employments, labor and social affairs, technical government…
From one-third to one-fifth of salary and pension are the enforcement limitations for persons receiving an average salary and pension anticipated with the amendments to the Law on Enforcement that were adopted yesterday. Minister of Justice Renata Deskoska posted on her Facebook profile that the amendments to the Law on Enforcement are a reflection of the real need for helping and supporting disadvantaged groups of people who are facing existential problems, but also socially vulnerable groups of people who, by no fault of their own, are not in the possibility to settle their debts without endangering their livelihoods, not just their own, but also of their families.
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mila Carovska today at a press conference presented the results from the realization of the Employment Operational Plan for program and measures for 2019 and stated that the implementation of the Employment Operational Plan has contributed to reducing the unemployment rate in the country and that it can be said that now it is 17, 1 percent according to the latest statistics.
Mila Carovska
The Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia is expected to adopt by the beginning of February the National Strategy for Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest , which today was submitted to the President of Parliament Talat Xhaferi by members of the Committee. Earlier today, the President of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Biljana Ivanovska, presented this strategy to the media.
Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy Sanela Shkrijelj says for CIVIL Media that Technical Minister Rahela Mizrahi herself confirmed the catastrophic situation in which her party VMRO-DPMNE left the Special Institution in Demir Kapija saying: “At the start of the Social Democratic Union’s rule, this institutions had 227 people with disabilities and 41 caretakers. This means one caretaker takes care of 6 people every day”.
President Stevo Pendarovski in an interview for MKD.mk portal stated that his impression is that the technical government started to function in a very bad way and that it hasn’t acted as a team. He says that the current political structure has delivered the least or failed the most in the area of the judiciary, although, as he says, the situation in our judiciary today is incomparably better in the sense of political interference and managing cases, compared to, as he says, what we had until 2016.
NOT LESS IMPORTANT
With 69 votes “for” and 1 “against”, the Macedonian parliament yesterday adopted the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, which should bring greater inclusion of the youth in decision-making through the National Youth Parliament, local youth councils and parliaments and more services for the youth. The aim of the law on youth participation and youth policies, as it is stated in the text of the document, is to provide creation and implementation of youth policies at all levels, through multiple sectoral approaches. The law aims towards strengthening youth participation in the processes of creating policies, promoting volunteerism, youth activism and youth work, as personal, professional and social development of young people.
CIVIL NEWS
CIVIL is starting 2020 with two seminars for transparent and responsible political processes intended for the Polog and South-Eastern planning region.
One of CIVIL’s numerous events with the “Civic Lenses” project in 2019 | photo: B. Jordanovska/CIVIL
The seminar in Gostivar will be held on January 25, at Hotel Bunar (in the center of Gostivar), with citizens from the municipalities of the Polog planning region having the right to participate as follows: Gostivar, Tetovo, Vrapciste, Brvenica, Zelino, Bogovinje, Tearce, Jegunovce, Kicevo, Mavrovo and Rostuse. Application form for participation in regional seminar “Civic Lenses” in Gostivar
FROM OUR ANGLE
“The documentary film ‘Honeyland’ has caused something that not a single film in the history of the Macedonian cinematography has achieved: the nation has led such a sincere, rich, at moments fierce, and even down-to-earth and primitive discussion about its own image in the social mirror, which is, until now, an unnoticed precedent in the clinical image with complex psych-pathological findings in the everyday running here that, in lack of a better alternative, is called life. Such a social effect is an unrealistic dream of every documentary film filmed here, and in any other country!”, writes Saso Ordanoski in his column “Hatidze, my love!”. Zoran Ivanov in his column “On the path to the EU only through the Brussels lash”, writes about the political disagreements on the Law on Prosecutor’s Office, which is still blocked in Parliament, and is one of the key reform projects and a condition for starting EU accession talks.
“…I deny any such communication with Vucic on this topic, at any time, or any such cooperation with Serbian or any which other services on any topic”, says Gruevski.
Wait a minute Grujokio. You deny cooperation with foreign services!? Well, didn’t we personally hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary replying to a question in the Hungarian Parliament why you had been granted asylum, where he says that you had been a useful collaborator of the Hungarian state and services, with your broad knowledge and information?”, writes Petrit Saracini in the column “The Hungarian snitch caught in a lie again”.
Angela Petrovska
In cooperation with Biljana Jordanovska, Dehran Muratov, Maja Ivanovska, Saso Ordanoski, Petrit Saracini, Zoran Ivanov, Xhabir Deralla
Translation: Natasa Cvetkovska
