There is total chaos in the judiciary, commented the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party after the Administrative Court reinstated Vesna Dameva as head of the Judicial Council.

The little known SDSM party apparatchik was removed as head of the powerful Council that appoints and dismisses judges over the spring, after she was embroiled in a fight with her DUI party appointed deputy. The move was strongly condemned by Western embassies in Skopje, as another example of the shambles in the judiciary. Dameva appealed on the decision to the Administrative Court, which this week decided that her removal was conducted irregularly, and she will not likely return to her position.

The Judicial Council, which should evaluate the work of all judges in Macedonia, turned into a circus. If they had an ounce of dignity, all its members would have resigned yesterday. Not least because the work of how the judiciary was criticized by the exceptionally bad EU progress report. Now we see why the judiciary has only 1 percent trust in the public, VMRO-DPMNE said in a statement.