Skopje, 20 February 2026 (MIA) - When a candidate is excluded ahead of time, without an analysis of their program and professional experience, it raises questions about the nature of the criteria that are being applied. I am convinced that a choice of this importance must be based on quality, and not suitability, said public prosecutor and candidate for chief prosecutor Lenche Ristoska in response to a statement made on Thursday by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, who said the Government would not consider Ristoska for the post of chief prosecutor.

“The professionals in the system must know that their effort and expertise are the only currency that should matter. Otherwise, we risk sending a message that, regardless of competence, suitability takes precedence – and that is not the path a democratic society should follow,” Ristoska said in her statement Friday.

Ristoska is one of the four candidates for chief prosecutor that the Council of Public Prosecutors forwarded to the Government. In a TV interview late on Thursday, Prime Minister Mickoski said the Government is only considering three of the forwarded candidates, and not Ristoska, who was a prosecutor in the former Special Prosecutor’s Office.

MIA file photo