Skopje, 1 January 2025 (MIA) - Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski says in the New Year's interview with MIA that the current Judicial Council composition maybe lawful but lacks legitimacy.

PM Mickoski was quizzed whether he still believes the Judicial Council and the Council of Public Prosecutors should be completely dissolved.

“It may be lawful, but it lacks legitimacy since its credibility has been destroyed, the trust is at a single digit percentage, it is a historic low, and if they lack the awareness to leave by themselves, then we must take certain steps so they can leave. But this doesn’t mean replacing the people who have led us to this situation with others that will continue doing that. The members who should reinvigorate this body should really have an impressive goal and agenda in front of themselves, as well as institutional memory behind itself, i.e. to have a biography, to carry weight, because if we just replace the members with other people, while keeping the same habits and behavior, then we haven’t achieved anything. The same will happen to us one day, we will leave, and others will come. Because when these changes happen, and they will happen as a result of the change in Parliament in which this Government holds the majority, and if there are no positive changes, then we will be the ones responsible and everyone will say, ‘see, they’re the same’, and this isn’t our goal. We don’t want to do that,” says Mickoski.

On claims that every government is trying to establish a partisan judiciary and whether a complete vetting, as in Albania, could be the best solution, Mickoski says he doesn’t believe that would be the right step, noting that the country has excellent legislation, with the only necessity being to free the prosecutors and courts from the hold of the political parties.

“We only need to free them and then they will start acting as they should be acting, i.e., prosecuting and judging in accordance with the legislation and the Constitution,” notes Mickoski.

In the interview, which will be released in full on Thursday, the PM refers to the fist six months of the Government in office, plans for national unity on strategic issues, the ruling coalition, relations with DUI, the escape of former deputy prime minister Artan Grubi, recent police operations, judiciary reforms, EU integration, plans to improve living standard, coming investments etc.

Photo: MIA