Skopje, 19 October 2024 (MIA) -- The Balancer tool was subject to abuse; employment should be based on people's professional skills and knowledge, no matter their ethnicity, Minister of Public Administration Goran Minchev said in a TV24 appearance on Friday evening.

"Our ministry has pointed out abuses of the 'Balancer' since the very beginning. Our position was that we needed to do away with the digital tool gradually, in stages," Minchev said.

"The Constitutional Court did it. No institution, no state body can guarantee a person's ethnic belonging or their employment in public administration," he said, adding that the only job guarantee for members of any ethnic community was "based on professionalism, knowledge, and quality."

"The opportunity to apply for any job is a constitutional right," the public administration minister said.

Asked about potential civil unrest, Minchev said it was an example of the opposition party DUI's populist rhetoric.

"This is populism by DUI," he said. "Why were there no tensions between 2001 and 2015? Did the 'Balancer' exist then? No. What DUI is doing -- keeping society tense that something is about to happen, that there will be protests, that security will be threatened -- I have given the working title of 'DUI vs. DUI'."

As part of the National Public Administration Reform Strategy 2023-2030, DUI and their own ministers in the then government concluded that the 'Balancer' was being abused and decided to scrap it," Minchev said. mr/