Skopje, interpellation against five members of the Judicial Council

The Parliament of North Macedonia opened the debate on Tuesday on the interpellations against five members of the Judicial Council, who refused to resign after the government requested them to do so.

The government of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickovski claims that by removing "corrupt" prosecutors and judges, it will reform the judicial system and the fight against corruption began with the members of the Judicial Council, a body that appoints and dismisses judges at all levels.

Vesna Dameva, Tanja Çaçarova Ilievska, Milazim Mustafa, Pavlina Crvenkovska and Selim Ademi are the five members of the Council that VMRO-DPMNE lawmakers requested in the interpellation.

77 MPs voted for the interpellation against Ms. Vesna Dameva, who until a few months ago was the chairwoman of the Council. The interpellation is conducted for each member separately.

But it is not clear whether the interpellation forces the dismissal of these members or not, as it rather looks like an increase in pressure on them to resign, according to one analyst.

VMRO-DPMNE accuses the Judicial Council of having ruined the image of the judiciary in the country by reducing citizens' trust in judges to only 2-3 percent, something that is also confirmed by public surveys. The ruling party accuses the five members of the Council of having done nothing to prevent these "negative circumstances in society."

Vesna Dameva said that she did not allow the pressure and humiliation expressed by members of parliament to affect her honest work and conscience, but that she could not stop the pain that was caused to her family.

"How is it possible to step on living people?" she asked, adding that "it is clear that the desire for power is stronger than any other feeling and means."

Ms. Dameva emphasized that she had come to parliament not to defend herself but the rule of law, the Constitution and the judiciary and to oppose a "discriminatory report."

She highlighted the recognition, as she said, from the European Union evaluation mission for her work on judicial reforms, of which "I am very proud," as she expressed it.

"The problem will not be solved through interpellation. This will only deepen the problem and set a dangerous precedent that will have long-term consequences for both the judiciary and the state," said Dameva, who has nine months left until the end of her mandate.

The parliamentary majority described Ms. Dameva's appearance as a political speech.

Not all members of the Judicial Council participated in the interpellations against them in parliament. They say that this is the first time that parliament has presented an interpellation against members of the Council and they call this act unprecedented.

Five members of the Council are elected by parliament, while the other eight are selected through a competition by the judges of all the country's courts. /VOA (A2 Televizion)