VMRO-DPMNE official Antonio Milososki warned about plans by the DUI – SDSM coalition to stack the judiciary will political cronies, after an important hiring criteria was watered down.

In coordination with Ahmeti and Kovacevski, Justice Minister Krenar Loga smuggled a law through Parliament that will change the way in which the Academy of Judges and Prosecutors selects its candidates. Instead of the admission exam to be taken electronically, as is the standard in Europe, it will now be taken in writing. The reason for this is that DUI, SDS and Krenar Loga already have a prepared list of 130 persons to be enlisted in the Academy, to be our future judges and prosecutors, Milososki said, noting that the law was changed by abusing the so-called EU flag procedure, a practice that the European Union has often condemned.

Milososki warned the ruling coalition that, as the election campaign is about to begin, they are not allowed to make new public sector hiring – the students enrolled in the Academy have a temporary hiring contract signed with the Academy. “We are seriously notifying all members of the Management Board of the Academy – those who vote in favor of holding a written test for new applicants to the Academy will violate article 8 of the Electoral Code and will expose themselves to a criminal charge”, Milososki said. He pointed out some examples of cronies who are preparing to enlist in the Academy, such as the niece of Struga Mayor Ramiz Merko, Erkanda Bauta. Merko, a powerful DUI party official, was recently put on a US black list precisely for interference with the judiciary, as he pushed to have the corruption charges against him put on the back burner.