Skopje, 31 July 2024 (MIA) - Any comment from the colleagues in the 'Worth It' coalition is pointless. As ministers, we must observe the laws, and I hope it is also their intention to observe the laws, said Minister of Public Administration Goran Minchev commenting on disagreements with the 'Worth It' coalition over the application of the Balancer tool for employment of ethnic communities in the public sector.

Following reactions by the 'Worth It' coalition, which is part of the VMRO-DPMNE-led government coalition along with the ZNAM Movement, according to which the new way of applying the Balancer tool, by taking into account only the number of resident population in the country and not the diaspora, is a dysfunctional solution, Minchev stressed that he will not deviate from what the law says.

"The Law on Employees in the Public Sector clearly states that the Balancer applies exclusively to residents, to citizens who are on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, i.e. the resident population, and I, as Minister, will not deviate from observing the laws and what they currently state," Minchev said after Wednesday's opening of the first in a series of discussions on reforms in public administration. 

He added that in his statements over the past days, he had pointed out that in the past years the tool has been abused by all ethnic communities in order to get jobs in public institutions. 

"The balancer has been abused in general. This means that Macedonians have been registering as Albanians, and Albanians have been registering as Macedonians, members of other ethnic communities have been registering either as Macedonians or Albanians in order to be employed in public institutions. The goal of the Balancer tool is to have fair representation of ethnic communities. What I commented yesterday is enforcement and observing of the laws," the Minister said.  

In response to a reporter's question on whether the different interpretations with the coalition partner in the Government over the application of the Balancer tool could lead to resistance or blockade by 'Worth It' in terms of the adoption of key laws for the public sector, which was in the focus of today's debate, Minchev said that he expected a consensus on the legal solutions.

Photo: MIA