Why parliamentary independence matters in North Macedonia

For more than 15 years, Switzerland has provided support to North Macedonia’s parliament, including setting up a parliamentary institute and reinforcing security after the violent events of 2017. Swissinfo reports from Skopje. The support for North Macedonia’s parliament is a flagship project of Swiss democracy promotion. Switzerland’s official strategy describes it as 15 years of strengthening “administrative capacities and processes”. But what does this actually look like on the ground? We travelled to North Macedonia to find out. Over two hectic days, we met politicians, budget officials, translators, and IT support staff. “So you are particularly interested in the parliament’s online ticketing system for IT support requests?” one of them asked. A pillar of parliament – in the basement What interests us most is the link between democracy and bureaucracy, and how a functioning parliament strengthens the institution. We also want to know how, in a country where the current ...