Unconstitutional motion for appointing new Minister of Interior

On 12 May 20015, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia submitted a report to the Assembly of the RM, with the goal to inform the MP’s about the resignations of the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Transport and Communications. The report includes a proposal for appointing new Minister of Interior, and the proposed individual is Mr. Mitko Chavkov, the current Director of the Public Security Bureau of the MI. As it is obvious from Mr. Chavkov’s short CV, in the period from April 2012 to May 2013 he was employed at the working post “Head of the Central Police Forces of the Public Security Bureau of the MI”.

Pursuant to Article 97 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, the institutional bodies of state administration in the area of Police and Defense Departments are to be managed by civilian individuals who, immediately before being appointed to those positions, had been civilians for at least three years. Institutional body of state administration in the area of Police Department is the Ministry of Interior, while the managing authority is the Minister of Interior. Accordingly, in order to be appointed as Minister, Mr. Chavkov has had to be a civilian at least since April 2012. Taking in consideration that up to May 2013 he was a Police chief, it follows the Mr. Chavkov does not meet the requirement foreseen in Article 97 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.

The Committee reminds that in 2004, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia contested the appointment of Mr. Siljan Avramovski to the post of Minister of Interior. The reason for the contesting was Mr. Avramovski’s professional engagement, first as Deputy Director, and later (within three years before the assignment) also as Director of the Security and Counter-Intelligence Directorate. Unfortunately, with the Decision no. 127/2004, the Constitutional Court proclaimed itself non-competent to make decisions on this matter, pointing out that the Assembly has the right to appoint Ministers of the Government, and that the decision to appoint a Minister, in its character and content, is an individual act which does not govern relations between unspecified number of subjects in a general way, as well as that it is not a regulation.

The Helsinki Committee forewarns that the possible acceptance of the Prime Minister’s proposal by the majority of the MP’s would represent a clear, conscious and unambiguous breach of the Republic of Macedonia’s Constitution. The Committee points out that the above Decision of the Constitutional Court must not be used as an excuse to unconstitutionally appoint the future Minister of Interior. The Helsinki Committee is ready to contest the possible appointing of Mr. Chavkov at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia.