Mickoski and Filipche remain inactive on forming the Kočani inquiry commission

The parliamentary call to form a special inquiry commission into the Kočani tragedy has produced little movement: major parties have not nominated members and offer different reasons for their inaction.

Afrim Gashi, the Speaker of the Assembly, publicly invited parties to propose members but the appeal did not change the positions of either the governing or opposition ranks. Venko Filipche, identified in party materials as a leader within the opposition SDSM, said the public call is not sufficient and that he is still waiting for a formal letter.

Representatives of VMRO-DPMNE gave a similar explanation: they say they expect a summons from Dimitar Apasiev, the chair of the Permanent Inquiry Commission, to hold a session where conclusions should be adopted. Nikola Micevski, coordinator of the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group, said, "We have an ongoing Permanent inquiry commission for Kočani, which is waiting to continue and for Apasiev to convene a session so that conclusions can be adopted. When this inquiry commission finishes, we will proceed with the other."

Accusations of a quiet deal

Dimitar Apasiev, leader of Levica and the chair of the Permanent Inquiry Commission, accused both VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM of an unspoken agreement not to investigate the Kočani and other tragedies. He said: "So far all political parties were supposed to nominate members, but only Levica has done so. It suits neither VMRO-DPMNE to have Kočani investigated, nor SDSM to have the modular [hospital] investigated. This is a tacit agreement between these two parties and therefore the special inquiry commission is a stillborn." Apasiev added that the session is, in principle, planned for October.

Gashi raised the issue at a coordination meeting after parents sent a letter requesting a concrete deadline. The proposed special commission is meant to look not only into the Kočani tragedy, but also the modular hospital fire where 14 patients burned alive, the Laskarci crash that killed 16 people, and the bus accident in Bulgaria that left 45 dead.

Despite declarative support from deputies, the special inquiry commission has been unable to start its work for more than nine months because parties have not completed nominations and the procedural steps needed to convene and conclude the investigation.

Photo: press material from the event