VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Dimitar Arsovski pointed to a series of nepotistic hirings in the public administration in the city of Veles. Close relatives of municipal Council members from the ruling SDSM party, Arsovski said, are being hired even though they are clearly not the best candidates for the jobs.

Three of these cases were reported in the city’s fire brigade. A nephew of SDSM party official Arian Dzini who runs the local welfare center was hired in the fire brigade, as was the husband of the SDSM Council member Pandorka Prlickova and the son of Council member Mensur Bacevac.

Both councillors had their kin taken care of at the public expense, Arsovski said.

Meanwhile, the Veles general hospital hired Vera Arsova Mitreska, the sister of the head of the local SDSM party youth branch, even though she ranked 7th on the list, and there were only five openings.

We call on the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate these and other hirings in Veles because nepotism is spreading throughout our public service. Especially given that, following the large earlier wave of such hires, when we listed more than 400 examples of relatives of Government officials being hired, only a token few submitted their resignations, Arsovski said.