A full conference hall filled up to the last available spot, with representatives of the domestic and international public at today’s conference “For a society free of corruption”, which CIVIL – Center for Freedom organized together with “Zelena Lupa”.
The conference was opened by the President of CIVIL, Xhabir Deralla, who stressed that this conference is the first in the series of activities with which CIVIL is starting the fight against corruption, as one of the more bitter problems in the society.
Deralla then announced the Prime Minister of Republic of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev.
“Today I will not speak and explain how much corruption is eating up and poisoning the society, but will rather stress the most important anti-corruption processes in the country with which we are combatting this joint social wound. In the direction of establishing an independent, impartial and efficient judiciary, based on European standards and best practices, we have undertaken activities for reconstructing the legal framework with the purpose of providing procedures that will strengthen the independence, transparency and accountability of the judiciary. We dedicated equal attention, in the wide framework of legal regulations, which are in the final phase, also to recognising and sanctioning unprofessional and biased behaviour by the judicial authorities. In this process, we are constantly taking into consideration also the great importance of the proper functioning of the judicial system and the efficient fight against corruption, but also respecting human rights. In the law and in practice”, highlighted Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
Zaev reminded on the adoption of the draft law on combatting corruption and conflict of interests, which regulates the measures and activities for the prevention of corruption, but also the measures and activities for the prevention of conflict of interests for which the SCPC is competent, in which the recommendations of the European Commission, Priebe’s Report and GRECO’s report have been addressed, which refer to the legal framework and in which experts, representatives of NGOs and representatives of institutions were involved in the preparation.
“With this law, a transparent procedure for the election and appointment of the SCPC president and its members is being introduced, and the conditions for election and appointment are being strengthened. The proposal is for it to be carried out in an interview with candidates, which will be conducted by the Commission on Elections and Appointments Issues of the Parliament of Republic of Macedonia, whereby representatives of civil society organizations and associations of journalists can also ask questions. The interview will be public and it will be broadcasted on the parliamentary TV channel”, said Zaev.
As to the provisions that this legal solution contains, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that it is proposed to strengthen the competencies of the SCPC, in the control of the financing of political parties and financing of election campaigns, it is proposed to determine that submitting requested data does not constitute a violation to the bank secrecy, determining responsibility for the responsible person in the competent institution or of a person authorised by him to undertake all measures and activities for submitting requested information to the SCPC, as well as determining the possibility for the SCPC to request data and information on the actual situation, including also access to 17 databases.
Regarding recent activities that are being implemented, the Prime Minister said that there are visible results from the implementation of the concept for an Open and transparent government, namely, “According to the Index of openness, the Government of Republic of Macedonia, as a central executive body, is in the first place in the region with 76% of the fulfilled indicators”, determined the research for “openness of institutions of executive power in South-East Europe and in Macedonia”.
“We have introduced a tool for accountability of the costs of holders of public office. The public received insight into the spending of the officials. Now the prime minister and the ministers are making three times less expenditures on unproductive activities. We are also changing the perception in the public in the direction that there is political will and preparedness of the Government for combatting corruption in Macedonia. We have shown this in several cases when doubts about conflict of interests or negligent work were raised in the public. We were able to pull back, to hear the outcry of the public, but it is honest to say that in the past 12 months we have saved over 100 million euros just through the transparency of the procedures in the public procurements”, said Prime Minister Zaev in his address, and as concrete activities that the Government is undertaking in this direction, he indicated the dismissal of the previous director of the Agency for Tourism due to negligent and careless work, the dismissal of the director of the Public Security Bureau, whose official vehicle was noticed in a foreign country. “The Government arrested a mayor when there was complete evidence for the crime. Once there was suspicion about the transparency and credibility of the first investment wave of the Fund for Innovation and Technology Development, a protocol was introduced for acting in the risk assessment for applicant companies from the aspect of the connection with holders of public functions and their influence, and now they have withdrawn from an ethnic aspect. Political parties have increased state financing, so that they are not dependent on businessmen anymore who help them in their regular functioning or in campaigns, for which later certain services are demanded, which usually comes down to corruption”, emphasized the Prime Minister.
At the end of Prime Minister Zaev’s address, he confirmed the positions of the Government for independent judiciary and prosecution in the fight against corruption.
Rozeta Trajan, Secretary General of the Secretariat of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, began her speech by quoting Biden who says “Fighting corruption is not just good governance, it’s self-defence. It’s patriotism”.
“There is a huge patriotic duty of every stakeholder in society to fight against corruption, but to also give active contribution in the fight against corruption. Because corruption reduces citizens’ trust in society, it pollutes creativity and inventiveness, talents of the most capable people are not valued and it destroys values. Only a society that is free of corruption can be a society that is focused on progress, advancement, development and prosperity. Because of all this, creating a society free of corruption should and must be a priority and imperative. A challenge that we need to face seriously and on which we need to work in a dedicated way”, said Trajan.
Trajan outlined that today’s event is confirmation that a serious approach is necessary in the fight against corruption, adding that the SCPC in the previous period was a voiceless observer of all the developments in society, a situation that is mainly the result of its inefficiency, non-transparency and partisanship.
Professor Mirjana Najcevska stressed that she would not speak about the Law, not about the old or new one, because she still considers that there should be a moratorium on the changing of laws.
“We have exhausted ourselves in bringing new laws, and yet have not managed to implement the ones we already have. Very often our laws are good and provide a wide framework for solving the problems that we face. But we are continuously, again and again, passing new laws”, stressed Najcevska, adding that she considers herself a person who thinks that corruption cannot be eradicated.
“We cannot free society from corruption, we can reduce it and limit corruption, but I don’t think that the citizens are obliged to fight corruption. This is the task of the ruling structure, to fight corruption, if it really wants that. The potentates corrupt the citizens, and not vice versa!”, said Najcevska.
“Often we don’t recognize corruption, which like corrupt behaviour is not only giving and taking a bribe, but with actions of issuing permits, by enabling crime, serious consequences are caused for the entire community…it is because of corrupt behaviour that we are breathing this air”, said Najcevska, whose presentation was followed by an applause from the audience.
Vane Cvetanov from Zelena Lupa”, outlined that corruption is a difficult subject that is cancer to every society.
“It is the duty of all of us to fight corruption. In order for there to be corruption, there have to be motives. And usually the uncertainty of the future is the first one, fear from political repression…Everyone should accept their responsibility and burden they carry on their backs”, said Cvetanov.
Cvetanov said that each institution needs to show changes at every level, along with self-initiative of the prosecuting bodies, a higher degree of responsibility among the independent bodies, strengthening of the system in the area of the confiscation measure.
The President of CIVIL, Xhabir Deralla, in his address reflected on human rights and freedoms and their violation in connection with one of the most negative social phenomenon – corruption.
“If we take a look at where a corruption cycle begins, we can draw a line and see where everything begins, and that is the elections. In the electoral processes we see how the life of the citizens will carry on until the next elections. Then is when you see the problems of society. This is where the root of the problem of our society is”, highlighted Deralla.
He is decisive that there is much space for interventions in the Electoral Code, but that paragraphs are still lacking in terms of who, how much and in which way someone can be held accountable for the poor implementation of the Electoral Code, and for the kidnapping of the election processes.
“The partisanship did not stop only on the system, but the political parties occupied society and the space for civic organization. In that connection, and with politicized institutions, society depends on small circles of potentates, and a political culture is created in which crime and corruption are fostered and encouraged”, said Deralla.
In the second part of the conference, emphasis was put on the present guests and their questions, comments and views.
Dzevdet Hajredini, former finance minister and finance expert sent out strong criticism to the current government and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
“It is a notorious mistake Mr. Zaev, to pay voters of your collation partner DUI, with money from the state budget!”, said Hajredini.
Pavle Trajanov, President of the Democratic Union party, spoke about his experience from 1994 and his removal from office after trying to fight corruption in the MOI, but stressed that even today, after 11 years of VMRO-DPMNE’s rule, Macedonia is a criminalized state, from which billions of euros have been taken out of the country.
“In Macedonia, investigative journalists and the investigations of the SPO have discovered more crime, and primarily, the MOI is an institution that should fight corruption and crime. I cannot understand how the MOI cannot discover the organizers of the events that took place on April 27 for instance, but to have to wait for some Ninja to discover it for us…In the MOI there are several people with high salaries and who should fight corruption. There is research, columns are written, but as long as an efficient fight against corruption by the competent institutions is lacking, a more significant result will hardly be reached”, said Trajanov.
Vladimir Georgievski, from the Secretariat of the SCPC, replied to the question – why is there corruption, especially in countries in transition?
“It succeeds in contexts where there are wide possibilities for weak social control systems to be used for a certain gain…Strong pressure is made on people in the public administration. With the new law, the competence of the SCPC is to preventively act upon certain situations, to point out certain conditions, to promote, and to coordinate anti-corruption efforts. It is necessary for it to be independent. This was also noted in the GRECO report. But it really is difficult to achieve a good and wide front with such weak institutions”, pointed out Georgievski.
Activist Margilen Demiri advocated for things to be called with real names. He stressed that he shared the views of Professor Najcevska, who he thinks should be a candidate for president of the state, and highlighted that corruption is evil for the Macedonian society and for which there is no honest desire for it to be eradicated.
Petar Bogojevski, member of VMRO-DPMNBE and one of the initiators for reforms in that party, spoke about the party stereotypes regarding the crime “of others”. With a critical reflection also on the action of his fellow party members from the individual aspect, Bogojevski, nevertheless, expressed optimism that after 30 years Macedonia is still a state at its beginning, and that there is still hope in the fight against corruption.
Journalist Goran Lefkov in his address emphasized the responsibility of the SCPC, which hasn’t been working for months, as well of the State Commission for access to public information, which is headless since May and in which there are 1000 requests. “Macedonia does not have a body for seizing property from criminal acts, in Slovenia a property of 32o million euros was seized, and in Macedonia of 460.000 euros!”, stressed Lefkov.
Ilija Nikolovski, President of the Party of Pensioners, stated that the organizers of the event had taken on too much of a commitment in regards to the topic, since there is no society that is entirely free from corruption. He advocated for the crime in the MOI to be wiped out, because currently “there is not a cell in Macedonia that does not have corruption”.
Marijan Nenov from No-Pasaran compared corruption with bacteria.
“There is corruption everywhere, but we notice it after it starts to bother us. There is corruption because many bacteria have multiplied in the judiciary. Even the government says it cannot interfere in the judiciary. Our only hope is in the prosecutor’s office”, said Nenov.
“I congratulate you for such a serious effort to speak publically about corruption, I support you completely. The money that should be given for corruption must go through the banks. The SPO reviewed bank accounts and we were able to see that corruption managed to be legalized through the banks. Banks have special authorizations to carry out the corruption without being able to enter their systems”, said architect Zlatko Todorov.
“The Anti-corruption commission was not dismissed because of travel expenses, on the contrary. The Bureau of expertise is an institution that is not being mentioned, but is seriously corrupt. Fight so that you are not slaves!”, concluded Todorov.
The conference organized by CIVIL is within the framework of the project “Citizens for free society”.
Maja Ivanovska
Photo: Biljana Jordanovska
