19th April 2024, Skopje – With the aim of informing the public regarding the statement by the Additional Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance, we hereby announce that, with respect to the cited cases, it is not a matter of unlawfully adopted decisions in the procedures pertaining to employment, promotion and issuance of notifications regarding the funds provided for creating new jobs with the budget users.
Since the transitional government has taken office, with Additional Deputy Minister of Finance being appointed, in the spirit of good cooperation, transparency and accountability in the Ministry’s operations, and with the aim of her joint and equal participation in the decision-making process, all paperwork submitted to the Minister to be signed were in addition submitted to the Additional Deputy Minister for consideration, including documents referring to MoF’s employment and promotion procedures and supplying written notifications pertaining to the funds allocated for new employments at the respective budget users. Article 46 of the Law on Government of the Republic of North Macedonia stipulates that the Additional Deputy Minister, together with the Minister, reviews and signs all acts and documents adopted by the Minister, which acts and documents pertain solely to the legal, financial and personnel issues related to organizing and conducting the election process. In addition, pursuant to this Article, the Additional Deputy Minister is obliged, forthwith and within one day at the latest, to approve or the revoke the acts in line with the Law for which the Additional Deputy Minister was not part of the decision-making process.
Ministry of Finance, acting pursuant to Article 46 under the Law on Government, has submitted to the Deputy Minister for review, all the files brought before the Minister for signing, without thereby interpreting the provision, which is general in view of specifying which documents and acts are related to the election organization. It is up to the Deputy Minister to decide which of these acts and documents will bear their joint signatures in accordance with the time limits referred to in this Article of the Law on Government, all in the light of good cooperation, transparency and accountability and on an equal footing in the decision-making process with the Minister of Finance.
Pursuant to Article 48 under the Law on Government regulating the cases of disagreement, Ministry of Finance addressed SEC, as the only competent institution on deciding whether certain legal, financial or personnel issue refers to organizing and conducting the election process. Upon SEC’s adopted decision affirming that the issue at hand is not related with the organization of elections, court proceedings were initiated by the Additional Deputy Minister of Finance before the competent courts, whereby SEC’s decision was confirmed by the Administrative Court. However, following an appeal before the Senior Administrative Court, the decision was revoked and remitted for re-examination. Hence, this is not a matter of unlawful decisions adopted by the Ministry of Finance, but rather a SEC decision, stating that such acts should not be a subject to joint signatures, being revoked and remitted to SEC for a re-examination.
