Interview: Zvonko Savreski, president of Polio plus Civil sector’s activation was crucial for the collected signatures   Polio plus ended the old and started the new 2006 by collecting 19000 signatures within the civic initiative for proposal for passing the Law on protection of handicapped people’s rights and dignity. Citizens gave you their trust, but what was crucial for the first initiative of such kind and format to exceed the legal figure of 10000 necessary signatures? 18.968 signatures have been collected. Above all we should point out the fact that there has been no successful civic initiative in Macedonia so far. I think that the specific quality of the issue, proposal for passing the Law on protection of handicapped people’s rights and dignity and the citizens’ opportunity to take part in the state power were basic preconditions for the success of our civic initiative. However, the activation of the civil sector was crucial. More than 100 civil society organizations that work in various fields self-initiatively took part in the campaign. The media support also enabled the citizens to be regularly informed during the campaign. Eventually, citizens’ conscience is the most important (in spite of the difficulties in terms of the working hours of the Ministry of Justice’s offices, working only from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday). However, citizens found time to give their support and to show that we can be active creators of legislation.   In which municipalities were the most signatures collected and what did they result from? Most signatures were collected in 10 municipalities, or as we say, top 10 municipalities. They resulted from the initiative and cooperation with several actors: support by the local authorities, civil sector’s activity, media approach and big interest of the local population. The municipalities have been ranked according to the regional departments: Prilep, Karpos, Struga, Delcevo with Makedonska Kamenica, Berovo with Pehcevo, Gostivar, Negotino, Kocani, Veles and Kisela Voda. It does not mean that other municipalities have been less successful, but with the result of the above mentioned, we have collected 10.564 signatures.   Citizens were placed in the center, very efficiently animated with the slogan “Your signature is the law”, but how did you animate the state and local representatives and institutions? As I previously mentioned, most of the mayors expressed their support at the beginning of the campaign, when the Polio plus caravan, led by Mile Stojkovski, passed through their towns. They even went out with their counselors, gave their signature and appealed to the citizens of their municipality through the local media. Such was the example with Pehcevo, Radovis, Strumica and many others…   Signatures have been submitted to the legislative institution. What will the further legal procedure be till the final adoption of the law and what would happen if you did not manage to pass it? From the moment of submitting the signatures, the parliament should put the proposal for passing the law at a parliamentary session within a month, and it should previously be reviewed by the interested working bodies. Our intention is at the meeting on the proposal for passing the law, the assembly to charge the authorized proposer to prepare a draft law, as it is usual practice for system issues and laws of wider social interest. It means that the law would be put on a public dispute and all interested parties would be able to comment on it, which is our objective for the comprehensiveness of the law and its functionality. Because passing a law that does not offer a system and efficient implementation is a “dead letter”. (All interested can see it on the website www.ipplg.org.mk).   Is the proposed law in accordance with the latest world legislation referring to handicapped people’s protection and what is its advantage in comparison with the current laws from this field in Macedonia? The law that we propose breathes with international norms and standards, it is in accordance with the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention for Protection and Advance of Handicapped People’s Rights and Dignity which is in a process of passing, as well as according to the Standard UN rules for providing equal opportunities for handicapped people and the Council of Europe’s Coherent Policy for Rehabilitation of Handicapped People, and it is also in accordance with the national legislation of the RM and the real opportunities for implementation of the provisions regulated by this law. The law itself is comprehensive, which means that it regulates all areas of protection simultaneously proposing mechanisms for regulation, protection and implementation of the proposed provisions. The creation of the Law on protection of handicapped people’s rights and dignity went through a few phases. The first phase was drafting the law. Only 10 versions were updated using the experiences of the developed and developing countries. The second phase was consultations with organizations working in the field of handicap and consultations with domestic and foreign experts. For that purpose, a series of workshops were organized throughout Macedonia and an opinion on the law was required by experts from the country. Polio plus representatives, who were actually part of the RM official delegation at the Sixth UN meeting on passing the Convention for handicapped people, had consultations with experts all over the world. The third phase was nomo-technical procession of the law, check-up of the accordance of the law with Macedonian legislation and contents procession in order to adapt it to the regulated form and unified terminology. In all three phases, the law contents went through a few changes, both structural and in terms of contents. However, it is worth notice that “the spirit of the law” has been preserved as it had been proposed. It has not been done by chance, but because of its harmonization with the international norms and standards for handicapped people’s rights. It is up to Macedonia to show that it is on the right way of entering the Euro-Atlantic structures and to pass a law that will enable handicapped people to have equal opportunities and a dignified life in the Republic of Macedonia.