The head of the DPI product safety inspection service Stojko Paunovski said that he still hasn’t been removed from office, even after it was announced by Prime Minister Zaev. Paunovski, an official of the ruling SDSM party and personal friend of Zoran Zaev, was ordered by Zaev to step down after he refused to admit 33 ethnic Albanian employees who are supposed to be transferred to DPI after holding no-show jobs for years, some even decades. Paunovski insists that his institution is independent and will not admit unqualified employees it doesn’t need, even as other public institutions agreed to admit the employees – who number about 1,200 in total.

Meanwhile, DPI employees have signed a petition to retain Paunovski as their director. It is going to be delivered to the Government on Monday.

The petition is signed by 90 percent of all DPI employees which includes people of all ages, ethnic groups and partisan backgrounds, said DPi spokeswoman Aleksandra Koteli.

The petition notes that the institution is able to admit 12 of the 33 new employees. Their distribution will remain a problem, as Paunovski has said that he needs more new product safety agents in the eastern parts of the country, while most of the ethnic Albanian employees who are being offered live in the western parts.

The Government, where Albanian officials such as First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi are gearing up to remove Paunovski, insists that he was notified three times that he is violating a Government order by refusing to admit the employees. Paunovski insists that he has not received such notifications. Paunovski is from the ethnically mixed city of Tetovo, where, several years ago, he and his son were attacked by three ethnic Albanians. His refusal to admit unqualified “diversity hires” and to defy Zaev has quickly made him a celebrity of sorts.