None of the state institutions in the country are carrying out the Law for the protection of whistleblowers even though it was voted exactly a year ago and there is no interest nor a political will by the authorities to implement it.
This was the main subject at the roundtable within the project by “Transparency International Macedonia” titled “Law for witness protection – experiences and challenges,” supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands.
The president of TI Macedonia, Slagjana Taseva, stressed out that the Law for the protection of whistleblowers which was voted a year ago is one of the best where the best international experiences and practices were implemented, but, the next challenge is the fight to enliven it and to put it into practice. But, in order for this to happen, as Taseva stressed out, there is no political will, nor interest on part of state institutions which have to take measures for an inner or outer reporting for non-ethical and illegal reporting and to protect the whistleblowers.
The ambassador of Kingdom of Netherlands in Macedonia, Wouter Plomp, stressed out that the Netherlands’ support for this project has come out of their opinion that the fight against corruption is the most important issue that the countries of Western Balkans have to solve on the road towards the EU integration.
-The elections are the day when the individual is equally powerful as any other politician. If you don’t vote, you allow for others to decide your future. The democracy is not only about the voting once in each four years or once at early elections. The politicians’ decisions each day influence the citizens and that is why the citizens must be informed when and how these decisions will influence them. The reporting plays a key role and the independent media and the civil sector are important in securing this information for the citizens – concluded Plomp.
Even though they were invited, none of the representatives of the Public Prosecutor and the State Commission for corruption prevention attended the roundtable discussions.
