As a regular and diligent reader of the "Pensioner Plus" newspaper, I recognized myself in the call of the members of the Union of Associations of Pensioners of Macedonia (SZPM) and immediately accepted the leadership's task to fight uncompromisingly against the disorientation of those responsible in overcoming "certain misinformation". and to approach the restoration of lost trust and damaged dignity in the organization. For a number of reasons, I decided to defend the president of SZPM, after whom trees and stones are being thrown vigorously and uncontrollably, and she is demanding her resignation with responsibility for the irregularities, stupidities and disregard for legality in the actions of the Union. The aforementioned would not have come to this level if she had at least once listened to me and acted according to my advice, but I believe that vanity and increased stubbornness could not allow her to do so. Now I don't know how to persuade her to take her self-imposed condition seriously and respond quickly to requests to ease her suffering.
At the same time, I wonder why the pensioners who are protesting with such vehemence attack the president, if there is no deputy hiding among them or they are preparing her dispatch and return to the invisible with the predecessor who I don't believe has any thought of such a premeditation. The threats go as far as the initiation of criminal proceedings with the assumption of responsibility due to the election fraud with the false registration of the place of residence.
And brothers who are protesting, where is your respect for the presumption of innocence and dignity, how do you forget the need for gender representation and bias? Where is the unprecedented expertise and irreplaceability of the president who deals with many like you and demands a charm for herself? Understand once and for all that no matter how much you find fault with her, the law is on her side.
I, on the other hand, have remarks on the "Findings and Conclusions" adopted by the Executive Board of the SZPM as a reaction to the protests. I completely agree with the members of the IO that the protests exist and it should be acknowledged that something is wrong with the leadership in the Union, but they do not see the fault of the president, who does everything to do nothing. If she had admitted in time that she took the position through illegal, illegitimate and illegal elections, at least she would not have put them to the trouble of defending her so that they could not defend her. Perhaps all this would have been forgotten if mistakes and omissions were not made in the work of the Union, which created revolt and resentment among a large number of pensioners who expressed them at the protests.
To tell the truth, there was a finding and previous recognition of the Executive Board that in the basic activities of SZPM, the cultural-entertainment and sports activities, instead of increasing, there is a decreased participation of pensioners' associations. And, imagine, those in charge would have yet to find out why not all pensioners are involved in these activities, and the president promises them that with her analysis and the recommendations she should make, she will encourage them to join the shows and sports competitions. It is strange that the leadership does not know that the non-participation in these manifestations is a reaction against the illegitimate election of the "leader" who last year with a police cordon forcibly declared herself president. That's why I remind her that she neither listens nor acts according to her former determinations and commitments that she unknowingly or intentionally trampled on.
I will not enumerate the number of miscreants and nebulos in the work and management of the pension organization, but I will ask some more important questions about the functioning of the Union. Does the leadership feel some kind of responsibility and is thinking about self-dissolution or a new regulatory and legal organization of the elections due to the manipulative arrival at the head of SZPM? What benefit did the Union achieve for pensioners by obtaining the status of an organization of public interest? How are things going with the collection, distribution and spending of membership fees from pensioners and is the 'Registered Organisation', which is not registered at all, still functioning? Will there be a systematization of the jobs for the hired and selected persons in order to determine the (un)need for so many "officials" in SZPM? What is the sex, gender and "non-Sweat" representation in the organization and is it according to the Law and the Statute for the president to be re-elected as a member of the Management Board of the PIOM Fund? Why aren't the fees and lump sums with other allowances of the managers and assistants in the Union transparent, calculated on an annual basis and published in the newspaper and on the organization's website?
Although there are still many questions, I stop here in the expectation that we will get real answers or visible practical actions on at least two or three. And, let this illegitimate leadership of SZPM not lie that it will succeed in getting under the skin of the new government line-up of the Republic of Macedonia, because it has already been read from the beginning and put in the ad act.

(The author is a retired journalist)

THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH THEY ARE WRITTEN, AS WELL AS THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE COLUMNS, DO NOT ALWAYS REFLECT THE EDITORIAL POLICY OF "FREE PRESS"