The Prime Minister Tries the Judges at a Rally: Mickoski Claims in Brvenica That Closeness to DUI Decided the Ruling on the Tetovo Modular Hospital

Hristijan Mickoski ended his rally in Brvenica with the message "One Brvenica for all" and with sentences about institutions that exist to serve the citizen. In that same speech, the country's prime minister told Supreme Court judges he knows why they ruled the way they did.

"Remember the modular hospital, remember how people burned alive, and remember the Supreme Court's decision, look at the judges who made that decision on 22 October, this month, when they released those people. Those very people. Why? Because they are close to the leadership of DUI," Mickoski said. Do we want that kind of justice, he asked from the stage.

The question of the fire in the Tetovo modular hospital is legitimate and heavy, and the victims' families have the right to demand an answer. But a prime minister claiming at a party rally, two days before an election, that judges ruled according to party ties is something else. If there's evidence for this, why is it being told at a rally and not put before the competent authorities? And if there isn't, what remains of the separation of powers?

The rest of the speech was predictable. He faulted the DUI-led coalition for failing to deliver results in two decades, called out those "selling ethnic fog" and declared that patriotism is proven by deeds. "Let's defeat these politicians of the last century," he said at the end, urging citizens to circle number 1 for Stojančo Radičevski.

Mickoski's position is that VMRO-DPMNE addresses everyone while its opponents create ethnic division. He talked of a municipality of Macedonians and Albanians, Christians and Muslims, who will live together even after the parties have gone. That's true. At the same time, the prime minister personally closed the campaign in a single municipality, and the numbers reveal the stakes: in the first round the party had almost 3,000 votes, and the target is over 4,000.

Sunday's election will show who has the votes. The question that remains after the count is a different one: when the prime minister decides which judge belongs to whom, who will defend the independence of the court from the prime minister?