The state Anti-Corruption Commission (DKSK) warned office holders that they will be held accountable for abuses done during the epidemic. Macedonia is currently without a Parliament and the Government holds near total power under a state of emergency, leading to many allegations of abuse on its part, including with rigging procurement contracts.

The Criminal Code does not recuse officials who abuse their office if that was done during an epidemic. Any violation needs to be punished, said Anti-Corruption Commission head Biljana Ivanovska.

In an interview she urged for an end to the “dangerous cycle of corruption” and said that the Government needs to make the decrees it is adopting as transparent as possible. Under the state of emergency, the Government has the right to adopt decrees that have the strength of laws adopted by the Parliament, and it has not shied away from using this power.