"No One Is Afraid of You, People Are Laughing at You" — Filipche on the Prison Threats and the 20-Million-Euro Tender

SDSM leader Venko Filipche responded sharply in the Parliament to the rhetoric of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, saying that threats of prison have become the government's only answer to criticism. "You threaten from the rostrum with prisons, with bars. Believe me, no one is afraid of you. No one at all is afraid of you. You are ridiculous — people are laughing at you. It does not befit the office you hold," Filipche said.

He recalled that the latest European Parliament report on the country is "one of the worst so far," with findings of poor handling of corruption and direct government influence over the independent judiciary. "And you have no reaction to that whatsoever. On the contrary, you continue with the partisan capture of the courts," he said, adding that the Prime Minister's own conduct feeds this negative perception among senior European officials.

Filipche tied his gravest accusation to the government's new draft law: "Yesterday you proposed a law with which you want to spend 20 million euros, bypassing all systemic public procurement laws in the state. Well then, what is the goal? What do you want to achieve? What kind of European practice is that? None. It is yours — of this government, which has dealt only in corrupt tenders since the beginning of its rule."

He also disclosed that the question of the Hungarian loan is being raised outside the country: "It came out publicly — not from us, but again from Europe, from Hungary — that the Hungarian loan will be investigated."

On the economic situation, Filipche pointed out that taxes and costs are rising while "wages are stagnating — people are on the edge of survival."

Photo: SDSM / video recording from the Parliament