Interim Labour and Welfare Minister Rasela Mizrahi shared a curious event during her meetings with regional welfare office directors, while she is inspecting their work.

The reform of the welfare system is dysfunctional, especially in the integrated case management, which leaves a lot of room for manipulation, especially ahead of the elections and we were warned about this by employees of welfare centers. But their directors, when asked, speak as if coached. They all use the same phrases, to insist that the reform is well prepared and well implemented. This tells me that they are coached and prepared by the office of the interim Deputy Minister, who is instructing them what to say, Mizrahi said.

Mizrahi said that the employees have asked for more training to implement the welfare reforms that were initiated under Minister Mila Carovska, and have complained that the reforms are based on a lack of understanding for their work.

But all their directors speak in unison. It’s very strange when you get these type of responses, with virtually the same sentences used by them. The press reported that a staffer in the office of Deputy Minister Sanela Shkrijelj was responsible for this coordination, Mizrahi said.