Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski addressed the proposal by his Albanian coalition partners from VLEN to have a law on ethnic representation in the public administration. Existing by-laws that regulated this issue, and were widely abused by the DUI party, were struck down by the Constitutional Court earlier this week.

I will not second the proposal, but from what I know, the new legal solution to this issue must be in accordance with the Constitution and the recommendations of the Venice Commission. So maybe it would be best if their proposal is sent to be reviewed to the Commission, so we are not assuming the role of constitutional law experts, Mickoski said.

The previous by-laws led to a situation of rampant false reporting of ethnic identity. Politically approved candidates for a public sector job would report a false ethnicity in order to get the job often created so that the institution can reach the mandated proportion of employees.

During his press conference today Mickoski also criticized DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, who met with the newly appointed Bulgarian Ambassador Zeljazko Radukov, and endorsed Bulgaria’s positions that Macedonia must change its Constitution.

I don’t think it’s the right policy, but let him pursue it. Bulgaria has signed the convention to protect human rights, and faces 14 sentences in the European Court of Human Rights that disclose how it violates them. I regret that Ahmeti is using this issue for daily politics, but that is his strategy, he thinks he will score some points in that way, Mickoski said, adding that the rights of the Macedonian community in Bulgaria must also be addressed.