Skopje, 28 October 2024 (MIA) -- There are two ways for incorporating ethnic diversity and equal employment opportunity measures into the national legislation: one is as part of the draft Law on Civil Servants, the draft Law on Public Sector Employees, and the draft Law on Professional Development and Training of Public Sector Employees; the other is through drafting a separate bill on equitable ethnic representation in hiring governmental workers, Minister of Public Administration Goran Minchev said Monday, adding that the Ministry of Public Administration was not working on any of these at the moment.

According to Minister Minchev, adopting any affirmative action policies should not be rushed. "I still have not seen any bills from our coalition partners, but I am convinced the government has the political capacity to find a legal solution that would eventually be sent to the Venice Commission so it can be a quality, applicable law," he said, recalling that the Constitutional Court scrapped the previous 'Balancer' program, which had been designed to ensure equitable representation in the public administration but which gave rise to fraud, influence peddling, corruption and clientelism.

"We do not find ourselves in this situation again," Minchev said. The issue could be addressed either through amendments to the existing public administration legislation or "by preparing a new Law on the Equitable Representation of Ethnic Communities," he said.

Minchev was answering reporters' questions after the fourth and final public debate on the draft Law on Civil Servants, the draft Law on Public Sector Employees, and the draft Law on Professional Development and Training of Public Sector Employees.

The debate was organized by the Ministry of Public Administration and the Parliamentary Inter-Community Relations Committee as part of a National Democratic Institute-supported campaign to promote greater professionalism in the public administration.

Minchev said the current lack of equitable representation legislation was not a threat to national security despite DUI leader Ali Ahmeti's latest letters to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and EU officials.

"The tension Mr. Ahmeti is generating in society," he said, "is political populism. DUI members who were in the previous government also confirmed, through the Public Administration Reform strategy 2023-2030, that the 'Balancer' was subject to abuse and decided it should be scrapped."

The public administration minister also said no workgroup had been formed yet to develop any ethnic diversity and equal employment opportunity policies.

"We should not rush it. We have to have patience. There was no 'Balancer' between 2001 and 2015, and yet the constitutional category of equitable representation of ethnic communities was implemented," he said.

Commenting on the public debate where the 'Balancer' issue had been raised, Minchev said: "We will see how the situation develops. I think we will go for a new law." mr/