In response to accusations from DUI, which has said the list of PM Hristijan Mickoski’s 17 Advisers shows the Government has continued to crate “Albanian-free zones” within state institutions, VMRO-DPMNE has pointed out that what DUI is alleging is only in the heads of its leader, Ali Ahmeti, and “the fugitive”, ex-Deputy PM Artan Grubi.
Also, the ruling party said in Thursday’s press-release that an ethnic Albanian, Shener Bilalli, was among the PM’s Advisers.
“There are also several ethnic Albanian national coordinators”, Mickoski’s party added, stressing that, unlike DUI, it saw politics only through the prism of competence, not of ethnicity.
However, the same day, SDSM, too, criticised the list, saying ex-Speaker Trajko Veljanoski, former Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski, and ex-Deputy PM Vladimir Pesevski had been defendants in cases opened by the now-defunct Special Prosecutor’s Office.
It also pointed to the fact that two former heads of the Security and Counterintelligence Administration, Ljupcho Andonovski and Goran Nikolovski, are on the list.
“Instead of the changes and reforms he would promise, PM Hristijan Mickoski has brought a recycled regime”, the party said.
Among the 17 advisers is Germany’s Johannes Heidecker, who was first hired as an Adviser by then-PM Zoran Zaev. His term continued also during Dimitar Kovacevski’s time as President of the Government. Heidecker is claimed to have previously advised former German Chancellor Angela Merkel too.