Skopje, 19 April 2024 (MIA) — VMRO-DPMNE's presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova in Kriva Palanka on Friday evening said the country's most important battle was "the uncompromising fight against corruption and crime" that needed to start on April 24.

"When we criticize DUI, we are not criticizing Albanians," Siljanovska-Davkova said. 

"When we criticize the coalition's decisions, we do not do it on ethnic or religious impulses, but because of their deep involvement in corruption and crime," she said.

She added that the economy, education, culture, or agriculture cannot develop without the rule of law. 

"In the last Freedom House report, they sent us a message: It is high time you stopped being a hybrid regime that revolves around corruption and crime. It is high time expertise and competence were the valid criteria for entry into any profession, for any position," Siljanovska Davkova said.

Highlighting the role of the President, she said President Stevo Pendarovski should have refused to sign many bills into law.

"One of the most awful ones was the amended Criminal Code. He became an accomplice in stimulating crime. Why? Because he invented all kinds of arguments why the changes were good, he compared them with Germany, etc. 

"But the fact is that with that awful law, they in fact made sure to legalize corruption and crime, that is, to protect the corrupt and the criminals. I will not allow this," Siljanovska-Davkova said. mr/