The government of North Macedonia will work to increase the representation of Albanians in state institutions following the preparation of a new Law on Fair and Adequate Representation. The law stipulates that the composition of public institutions should reflect the ethnic composition of the population, in line with one of the fundamental principles of the Ohrid Agreement.
North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Good Governance, Arben Fetai, and the Deputy Director of the Administration Agency—responsible for overseeing and managing the implementation of fair employment in the state administration—have assured that, once the Law on Fair and Adequate Representation comes into effect, the number of Albanians employed in public administration will increase.
“From Mr. Krasniqi I learned about the situation within the Administration Agency. As a new government, we are trying to strengthen it with human resources and financial allocations so that this agency is as prepared as possible. Starting the moment the law enters into force, the institution should be ready to begin immediate implementation of the Law on Fair and Adequate Representation, which will require significant resources given all the obligations created by the law,” said Arben Fetai, Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia.
Deputy Director Muhamed Krasniqi noted that there are institutions where the number of Albanians is negligible.
“We can say that in some places there has only been a 3 percent increase in the number of Albanians employed in public administration, and among them, we have noticed many abuses, which shows that such mechanisms or decisions do not always have the intended effect. I believe this draft law will have a positive impact because it will provide a real overview of all institutions in the public administration,” said Muhamed Krasniqi, Deputy Director of the Administration Agency.
The new law on fair representation replaces the “Balancer” mechanism, which was repealed some time ago. The law passed through the government last week and will be submitted to Parliament after receiving an opinion from the Venice Commission.