Skopje, 8 January 2026 (MIA) — Justices are generally honest people except a few corrupt, partisan individuals who contaminate the entire legal system; they are remnants of the SDSM and DUI rule, their cronies still fiercely fighting for their erstwhile supporters, Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told Alfa TV in an interview broadcast Wednesday evening.

Speaking about the amendments to the Criminal Code passed by the previous government, he said what SDSM and DUI did was to create a legal basis for their own amnesty. But the first reason behind the current "collapse of justice," according to the PM, is that judicial appointments are made by Parliament.

"The first was the election of judges in Parliament — when judges were elected in Parliament while VMRO-DPMNE was in the parliamentary opposition. I think it was in 1996," Mickoski said. 

"And the second was now, when the SDSM and DUI government practically passed the amendments to the Criminal Code before they left. They deleted a good part of Article 353, that famous Article 353," he added.

They changed the Criminal Code to "amnesty themselves" and "amnesty people who could cause damage to the then strongest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE", the prime minister said.

However, they failed to threaten his party, he said. "VMRO-DPMNE today is bigger than all political parties combined," he said. mr/