Skopje, 18 October 2024 (MIA) — Removing local mayors from office because they are not doing the jobs they were elected to do should be done through a people's vote, Minister of Local Self-Government Zlatko Perinski said Friday.

Perinski said in an interview with MIA that the new bill the Ministry of Local Self-Government was working on to replace the current Law on Local Self-Government was expected to be drafted by March. The bill would go through comprehensive consultations with experts, mayors, council presidents, and the civil sector, he said.

"Removing a mayor – based on the examples we discussed with the expert team before starting this process — should be through a referendum," Perinski said, stressing that voters who voted for the mayor should have a say whether the mayor should be sacked.

"We need to be careful and integrate all these changes in line with the Constitution so we don't have problems and anomalies in the adoption of the bill," he said.

Perinski said the first expert meeting was held earlier on Friday. In the first stage, he said, the experts would be examining the existing law and pinpointing its weaknesses.

The idea to introduce the possibility of removing a mayor from office, Perinski said, came from members of the public.

The new law would also make it possible to form communal police squads that would prevent the destruction of public property, which Perinski said would save municipalities money that they would otherwise spend on repairs. mr/