Skopje, 23 December 2023 (MIA) – The representatives of the Network for Protection against Discrimination at a press conference Saturday urged MPs to remain unbiased and focused on the citizens when voting for members of the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination. They said the MPs failed to comply with the law during the selection of candidates for the Commission, which is why the Network intends to petition the Constitutional Court over the issue.

At the press conference, the representatives of the Network said all they are calling for is a fair and transparent process, in line with the law, for all positions within the Commission. “But Parliament,” they said, “has for years lacked the political will to do this.”

The Network also reacted to the decision to grant their candidate, Dragana Drndarevska, a mandate of 1 year and 2 months, as opposed to the five-year mandate granted to all other candidates.

“The decision to grant me the shortest mandate in the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination is degrading, not only for me, but for the entire civil sector and experts that have worked on the issue of discrimination for years. I publicly state that I won’t accept the shortest mandate and I believe that this is a case of political discrimination, since I am not affiliated with a political party, while the other candidates who are, have been granted longer mandates,” said Drndarevska.

The election of party-affiliated members, according to Drndarevska, once again puts into question the independence of the Commission.

Uranija Pirovska from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights reminded that according to the Law, candidates should have seven years of experience in the field of human rights, five of which should be focused on the issue of discrimination.

“And don’t forget, political discrimination in Macedonia is very common, and we can’t expect the individuals who have been selected on the basis of their party-affiliation to make unbiased and professional decisions in cases of political discrimination,” said Pirovska.

The President of the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, Aleksandra Cvetanovska, highlighted the fact that the list of proposed candidates doesn’t include people with disabilities, despite the fact that there were applicants with disabilities, who, she said, had a lot of experience in the field. According to her, the Commission should reflect the diversity of society.

Civil sector candidates Elena Kochovska, David Tasevski and Maja Atanasova said that with such a decision, “the state demonstrates that it doesn’t want to have functional institutions, and doesn’t want people who, despite their diversity, can contribute a lot to the development of the country.” They stressed that they don’t want “the Commission, which should serve the most vulnerable citizens in the country, to become a victim of party-affiliated employment.”

Photo: MIA Archive