Skopje, 18 September 2024 (MIA) - The Constitutional Court accepted Wednesday the motion filed by the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) and launched a procedure on the “balancer”, a program designed to promote ethnic diversity through affirmative action in hiring governmental workers but which gave rise to "fraud, influence peddling, corruption and clientelism," according to the SCPC.

Constitutional Court spokesperson Hristina Belovska said the procedure was launched for provisions from the Law on Public Sector Employees, Law on Civil Servants, the Rulebook for mandatory elements in public calls for public sector employment, which were all disputed by the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

“The Court assessed the Commission’s allegations as founded, but also expanded the suspicions of unconstitutionality and illegality to other provisions as well, and, upon its own initiative, launched a procedure for provisions from the same laws, as well as bylaws that arise from the laws,” Belovska said.