Talat Xhaferi dismissed the growing calls to have members of the Macedonian Parliament tested for drugs use. The calls are growing after one of the top SDSM members of Parliament Pavle Bogoevski was secretly recorded ordering what appears to have been cocaine from his dealer.

According to the law, there are no legal grounds that the Speaker or the Parliament organize such an initiative, Xhaferi said.

Members of Parliament attend bi-annual health checks, but these do not include drug tests. As Bogoevski is defending himself by saying that he was ordering an illegal substance, but that it was merely cannabis oil for a sick relative, he is being called out from all sides of the political divide to submit himself to a rigorous drug test, and publish the results.

These calls are reinforced by the fact that Bogoevski positioned himself as chief “executioner” of the ruling majority, demanding that opposition members of Parliament are stripped of immunity for all sorts of politically driven charges filed against them. Bogoevski was also the leader of the “Colored Revolution” which was, at least in theory, a movement to demand full accountability from those in power.