Skopje, 30 December 2024 (MIA) — In response to a reporter questioning the legality of the announced dismissal of Judicial Council members after the holidays, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said those members no longer earned their keep, given that public trust in them was as low as two percent. 

PM Mickoski said the government would do nothing illegal and unconstitutional in dismissing Judicial Council members. He said, "We don't intend on leading any process that goes against the law and the Constitution, including this one."

Citing constitutional experts he had talked to, Mickoski said "this way of seeking responsibility" of them was indeed legal and constitutional and recalled the low level of public trust in the Judicial Council.

"Citizens rate them lowly in regards to trustworthiness," Mickoski said. 

He added that the government had no intention of "pleasing these people by letting them stay there even longer and sinking us even deeper into the political swamp, drowning us in all they have done in the past."

"We work in the interest of the citizens in line with the law and the Constitution," he reiterated.

"One thing is clear — and the citizens say this unambiguously — these people with a two percent trust no longer deserve the paychecks they get," the prime minister said.

Last week, Mickoski said the government was thinking about ways of solving the ongoing problems in the Judicial Council after the holidays. 

"We are considering several moves, measures we will take after the holidays," the PM said. 

"Because, despite them announcing they have overcome their phenomena of anxiety, diarrhea, cramps and fever, those processes are still ongoing with certain prosecutors and judges," he said. 

"Citizens need to receive justice. We are planning this kind of activities in the near future," Mickoski said, answering the question whether the plan was to dismiss Judicial Council members elected by Parliament. mr/