The Anti-Discrimination Commission published an open letter accusing the Government of attempting to cut short the mandate of one of the few remaining independent political bodies in the country which are not under their control.

The SDSM led Government is preparing a new anti-discrimination law and plans to use it in order to dismiss the members of the Commission and appoint new ones – presumably loyalists – against the recommendations of the Venice Commission.

The Government should adhere to the serious criticism from the Venice Commission and other European institutions which were outspoken against its proposal to terminate the mandate of this Commission two years before time. This raises prospects that we are witnessing another form of political interference in independent institutions. The Venice Commission openly criticized the legislation allowing early termination of the mandate of the Commission because it can influence the independence of the Commission, the open letter declares.

The Commission also warns against the article in the law which would expand the number of grounds for discrimination to include same sex marriages. According to the Commission, this would mean de facto legalizing same sex marriages without an appropriate law being passed in Parliament.