Author: Sefer Selimi Jr.
In the midst of the noise of political clashes, one of the main cases against crime and corruption quietly went down in history. Former Prime Minister Gruevski, now an asylum seeker in Hungary, had again throne away justice. The charges of the Special Public Prosecutor for its illegal obtainment, read: stealing 155m euros provision from a Chinese company for construction tender of Kicevo-Ohrid and Stip-Miladinovc highways is already obsolete. Justice failed again!
Two years ago, North Macedonia was liberated from Gruevski’s state capture, but it still remains a hostage of Gruevski’s justice. Across bureaucratic corridors, between technocratic procedures, with subversive court techniques, prosecutors and lawyers scrutinize cases in which millions of euros of poor citizens of this state have been abused while keeping out of the grills thieves and citizens’ prospects as a hostage.
All efforts for economic development are useless. All efforts to raise salaries are useless. All attempts to stop the youth from leaving this country are useless. All other efforts will be useless as long as justice continues to be unjust. In modern history, there is no other place that enables a dignified life for its citizens if it cannot afford justice.
The new Government, which will emerge after the April elections or whenever they are held, must set itself only one priority – the complete reform of the justice system as it did with its focus on resolving bilateral problems with its neighbors. We already have one such example in the region, and based on Albania’s experience, with the support of the international community, especially with the support of the United States, the judiciary system must be freed from injustice. Full vetting of judges and prosecutors keeping political parties out and with direct monitoring by the European Union and the US should exclude from the system those who enable criminals and the corrupted to break justice, as in the Gruevski’s case.
As long as the justice system remains as it is, the highest paid profession will continue to be a “corrupted politician.” This system cannot build the perspective of new generations because this mindset kills any healthy ambition by setting the wrong patterns to follow. With this system, you cannot expect serious investors to come and do business, because no one has fair money to pay the justice they deserve. You cannot expect a functioning democracy with this system, because it desecrates even that little trust in public institutions. With this system, you cannot expect an honest politician, because honesty is the only value you cannot find within them. This system does not build a rule of law, because this justice system has for its image Gruevski’s face!
An hour ago: Vetting!