VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova condemned the practice of ethnic quotas in public sector hiring and promised to reform the model – the so called “balancer” – which is now rife with abuse. It often prompts citizens to declare an obviously false ethnic identity to get a job in the public sector.

We can’t turn ethnicity into a profession. That is a disaster, Siljanovska said, adding that Macedonia has already achieved a fair representation of ethnic groups in its public sector and should now turn toward a merit based model.