Anti-Corruption Commission 'Scolds' SDSM Spokesman for Assuming Two Posts

The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption has launched a procedure against SDSM spokesperson, Peter Silegov, Telegraf.mk has learnt.

One of the positions he assumes, is his seat in the Parliament, and the second one is a managerial position in a law firm.

Silegov has shared the letter of the anti-corruption commission to his Facebook profile, adding the following comment: ‘the anti-corruption commission solved one of the biggest corruption scandals in the country’.

The letter addressed to Silegov says that a conflict of interests was determined.

“The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption within its legal competencies has established and acts upon the case related to You and determines that besides the post of Member of Parliament, for which You were elected at 2014 parliamentary elections, You are performing at the same time the managerial duty, i.e. person responsible, of the Law Firm ‘Silegov and Partners’, the letter sent to the SDSM spokesman reads.

The anti-corruption commission points that Silegov does not have the legal right to assume other positions while he is Member of Parliament.

“The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption believes that there is a conflict of interests in the concrete case, because according to Article 3, paragraph 2 from the Law on Conflicts of Interests and Article 7 from the Law on Prevention of Corruption, you have a status of a public official, i.e. a deputy at the Assembly and at the same time you assume other public offices and duties,” the letter adds.

“The status of a public official is disabling you to assume several public functions and duties at the same time, including the managerial post of the law company. Managing a law firm during performing public duties is opposite to Article 9 from the Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest,” the correspondence issued by the anti-corruption commission says.

The document says that Silegov should take concrete steps in order to overcome the existing conflict of interests.

The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption is checking the SDSM legislators elected in 2014, before they return to the Assembly. The opposition’s return to parliament is contained in the new agreement signed by political leaders on July 15 in Skopje.

The agreement is expected to pull Macedonia out of the political crisis. Talks on its implementation are held Monday. For that purpose, work group comprised of members of the four biggest political parties in Macedonia were established, along with the Belgium expert Pieter Van Howit, who are to assess its content and examine ways for its efficient implementation.

Unofficially, tackling the issue with the State Election Commission and the revision of the Election Roll will be first on the reform agenda. A decision to dissolve the commission could be reached having into consideration that the term of the current composition of the commission expires in November this year.