Interim Interior Minister Nake Chulev of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE pointed out that in the past few days police officers and the Ministry of Interior were involved in taking measures to determine whether the police hours, personal protection – masks, providing state guarantees and control in catering facilities, but that commitment by police officers instead of being valorized is often abused for political purposes by the ruling SDSM.
Chulev appeals to the public and all political structures in the country to refrain from unfounded attacks that harm the police.
“I am aware of the revolt of the citizens for restricting the movement, but the goal is to protect the health of the citizens, and the decisions are made on a proposal from the Commission for Infectious Diseases, and the Ministry of Interior has a task and obligation to control their implementation,” Chulev said.
As for the accusations made by the government against him, as he said, things were clear from the first day he took the post of Minister of Interior.
“My position is that the Ministry of Interior should function professionally, non-selectively and legally. In fact, in the past period, this has been shown in practice, for the most part we have successfully implemented the decisions of the Government, and thus protected the health of the citizens. There are certainly mistakes and omissions and they are part of the work, but it is bad when mistakes happen due to obstruction, non-cooperation and acting according to party directives,” said Chulev.
The Minister informed that in his daily work he is facing obstructions from structures in the Ministry of Interior that work under directives outside his competence.
“It is difficult for one of my ideas, ideas or directives to be implemented in practice, without encountering many obstructions, from the Ministry of Interior inside, but also from the Government. The manner of organization and treatment of the police officers is an exceptional obligation of the director of the Public Security Bureau who manages the Operational Headquarters established for this purpose. As a minister, I have an obligation to guarantee the legality and non-selectivity of the actions of police officers, but I do not have the authority to organize their work and give specific tasks for their actions,” Chulev explained.
He said that in the telegram addressed to the police officers by the director of the Public Security Bureau, it was clearly emphasized that the police officers act only after the directions and tasks received by him.
For me as Minister of the Interior, the most important thing is to win the battle against the coronavirus, and it will stay that way in the future. I urge the public not to succumb to the provocations that the ruling party is making public. They are just an attempt at political discrimination and a fact that shows that they care only about their own rating, but not about the health of the citizens – said Interior Minister Nake Chulev.
