Interview: BRANKO NAUMOVSKI, OMBUDSMAN 

The Road To Democracy Is Not The One We Are Walking On Now 

The rights in the country are not respected, or at least not completely. There is a big gap between what has been standardized and what has been put into effect. We have reached the Rubicon of disrespecting the rights and it must not be crossed. Citizens deserve more attention than the one they are having at the moment – from the highest functionaries in the state power, to the lowest clerks by rank.

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By Marijana Ivanova

The Ombudsman institution is one of the most popular institutions in the world among citizens. At the same time it is an institution which enjoys great reputation among the power organs and bodies, representing the citizens’ interests. The ombudsman in the Republic of Macedonia is also reaching this position more and more. Proving its independence in several occasions and without prejudice defending the citizens’ interests, this institution has acquired the citizens’ trust.

In order to have a closer picture and to bring nearer this institution to the citizens, we talked to the ombudsman, Mr. Branko Naumovski.

C.W. – The institution you are representing is relatively new in our society. How close has it got to the citizens for the past five years since its existence?
B.N. – Five years are not so long period, so the citizens still get to know us. Beside all our attempts to popularize this institution, unfortunately, we have not touched on every citizen – in my opinion, a big campaign is necessary to popularize an ombudsman. It results from the drastic and continuous violation of the citizens’ rights and a lot of regulations have been passed lately, so when the law experts cannot manage to deal them, let alone the citizens. This institution has an objective not only to help citizens in achieving their rights, but also to direct them, to offer some legal help, where and how they can achieve their right, which organ to turn to etc.


C.W. – Citizens often expect the ombudsman to solve their problems to the end. However, your competence is limited. What is, more precisely, your competence?
B.N. – The ombudsman does not achieve the citizens’ rights, but protects them. Sometimes, either from ignorance or not having the information, it is identified and citizens expect us to solve their problems to the end. However, in order to achieve their citizens’ rights, they have to appear in front of the state organs. In 1997, after I had been elected for ombudsman, a lot of citizens were calling, but obviously, they were not informed enough. – e.g. they asked us to represent them at law-court, to change court decisions, to mediate in some cases. But now I think they understand the way we work.

However, it is good to repeat – we do not bring decisions, we intervene, we recommend. In this procedure, some other activities can be included – to bring an action or criminal charges in front of the public prosecutor, and for some smaller problems to inform the state clerk, his chief, even the Parliament.
We intervene even for the smallest violation of citizens’ rights, when man’s dignity and moral is hurt, when clerks in the state organs or window clerks behave impolitely, in all these cases citizens can turn to us. Therefore, we intervene from the smallest to the biggest cases – when an act is passed, for example.


C.W.– Do you also intervene on your own initiative, without waiting for the citizens to turn to you?
B.N.  – The ombudsman is authorized self-initiatively to initiate procedure. But it needs an agreement from the citizen whose right has been violated – it is a restriction by the Ombudsman Law. We have had several cases when the citizens gave up our help, either because they had some reserves or were intimidated. However, there have also been a lot of positive examples – we have initiated some discipline and criminal charges, even a person has been convicted.


C.W. – Do you consider to have gained the citizens’ trust?
B.N. – After our five-years work, I think we have built a very high level of trust at the citizens. However, we can easily lose it if the authorized state organs do not respect and meet the ombudsman’ requirements. The managing bodies have not so far oppose to our requirements, but there is a certain relation of disregard - they do not often respond to our requirements, which has a negative effect for both the citizens and the ombudsman, and the country in whole.


C.W. – What is the case like with the state organs and bodies, what is their attitude towards the ombudsman like?
B.N. – I am not content with the government's attitude. As I have already mentioned, their attitude is inert, they do not meet our requirements, they do not respect the decisions. But also in this sphere – in the sphere of power, it takes time to accept us and I hope this attitude will change. It is important to understand that the ombudsman is a protective mechanism, mediator, the objective is not only to protect the citizens, but also to help the administration, to be organized and real service to the citizens.

I can say that at the state organs we come across some passive resistance. However, they are obliged to cooperate with us. According to the Law, for the Ombudsman there is not a secret – state secret or discretion right – but, very often, there are obstructions. The ombudsman has a legal right to enter an institution at any time without some previous announcement and the clerks are obliged to submit literally all the documents.

Efficient help in our work can be the voice of the public, of the citizens and the media. The media have often helped us promoting our work and they can put some additional pressure on the managing organs. We are going to continue cooperating with the media more closely.


C.W.– How much are the citizens’ rights respected in Macedonia?
B.N. – The rights in the country are not respected, or at least not completely. There is a big gap between what has been standardized and what has been put into effect. We have reached the Rubicon of disrespecting the rights and it must not be crossed. Citizens deserve more attention than the one they are having at the moment – from the highest functionaries in the state power, to the lowest clerks by rank.

The ombudsman is an institution which the citizens need a lot. We visit the other towns in Macedonia on regular basis and talk to the citizens – these are open meetings and even the ones whose certain rights have not been violated, are satisfied when we explain it to them. Personally, I am content with the citizens’ attitude, but the power itself should show higher interest and trust towards this institution. We have big support from the foreign organizations.

Message to the citizens: Citizens’ voice has to be heard

“I would like to tell all the citizens to phone us about anything they consider to be abused or violated by any state organ. They should not be afraid nor inert. Their voice, our voice and the media’s voice can mutually contribute for the citizens’ rights to raise to a higher level.

The Ombudsman has to closely cooperate with the NGOs. The non-governmental organizations have a close contact with the citizens and they can turn to us and help us a lot. The citizens can turn to us every working day, they can personally submit a letter, orally or written, or they can call us on the phone or send an e-mail.” – said Mr. Naumovski. 


-The Ombudsman’s address is Dimitrie Chupovski St. 2, Skopje.
The phone numbers are 129-335, 129-367, 129-327 and 129-351.
The fax number is 129-359 and 129-327 and the
e-mail addresses are: ombuds1@mt.net.mk and ombudchild@mt.net.mk .
The Ombudsman’s web site is: www.ombudsman.gov.mk .