Addressing recent scrutiny and dismissing allegations from the opposition that the government-owned aircraft had been misused for non-official travel, the Government issued a press release Tuesday to defend its use of the state plane, which it said followed protocol.
The Government points out that no activity is outside the established procedures, nor is there any form of abuse.
“It is particularly symptomatic that the opposition consciously ignores the humanitarian and state dimension of the use of the plane in emergency situations. The public knows well that the same aircraft was put into operation to save human lives, including during the transport and coordination of activities related to the injured from the tragic fire in Kochani. It is worrying that the same political structure that is accusing today, in the past used the government plane for trips that remained deeply controversial in the public, including flights to Nish, at that time we saw photos and statements from trips on the government plane with which the public was manipulated.
Today’s attempts at moralizing by the same actors represent a classic example of political hypocrisy. When they were in power, they demolished the standards of accountability, abused official resources to the maximum, and never initiated substantive reforms. On the contrary, it was during their period of rule that the public witnessed countless abuses,” the Government stressed.
