English
Viktor Buckovski, son of former Prime Minister and SDSM party leader Vlado Buckovski, was tapped by the organizers of the protest yesterday evening, to deliver closing remarks. The protest was organized by a social media organized group following the disastrous nightclub fire in Kocani.
The main demands of the group caling itself “Who is next?” are for a transparent investigation into the fire and the permitting process that allowed the nightclub to be open in the first place.
But the choice of Buckovski to be the face of the organization proved controversial. His father is involved in one of the best known corruption and impunity cases in Macedonia. Following his term as Defense Minister, he was charged with having a bogus company purchase spare parts for tanks used by the Macedonian army that were already planned to be destroyed as obsolete. The case against Buckovski was dragged out for years, until it finally reached its statute of limitations, and he now remains a free man.
His son’s decision to promote himself as a crusader against corruption led to critical comments on the social media today, with citizens urging the organizers to refrain from politicizing people’s emotions over the disaster, but also leading to calls that the young activist should first account on the case of his father and his apparently deliberately botched prosecution.
