Macedonian MP Candidates Pass Collaborator Test

The state office tasked with rooting out former informants said it has checked all 1,500 political party candidates for the 123-seat parliament and established that none of them collaborated with the intelligence services in the Communist era.

”We have finished the check-ups. According to the data we got from the police, from the state archive and from the intelligence services, none of the candidates has been a collaborator,” said Tome Adziev, the head of the Lustration Commission.

This month Macedonia holds early general and presidential elections. On April 13, Macedonians will choose between four presidential candidates. A second round, pitting the two best-ranked candidates against each other, takes place on April 27, alongside snap general elections.

The Lustration Commission also gave the green light to all four presidential hopefuls.

Macedonia is following in the steps of many former Communist states that have brought in lustration laws as a way to address past injustices stemming from politically-motivated prosecutions.

According to the Lustration Law, people found to be former collaborators cannot carry out or run for state office. Three years ago, during the 2011 snap general polls, the lustration commission declared that two MP candidates had been collaborators.

Although legislation states that the Lustration Commission must check the records of presidential candidates before they enter the race, the vetting was disputed by the opposition Social Democrats.

The party said it was outrageous for the commission to still be operating although its five-year term expired earlier this year and the parliament has not yet elected new members.

The opposition generally argues that the...