Macedonia's anti-corruption commission chief steps down

SKOPJE, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The head of Macedonia's anti-corruption commission Igor Tanturovski announced his resignation Tuesday.

On Monday, another commission member and former president Goran Milenkov forwarded the resignation to the Parliament.

These resignations came one week after the unveiling of an internal audit report, which noted suspicious payments of fictitious travel expenses and spending of budget funds.

Macedonia's Tax Department informed that the members of the commission had submitted fake reports about the expenses that they made as well as other irregularities have also been identified.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the claims as the parliamentary majority called on the commission's members to file resignations.

Following the news of commission chair stepping down, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told reporters that he welcomed the decision of a couple of members of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) to step down.

He voiced confidence that Macedonia needed a serious anti-corruption commission that would abide by all international practices and kept a watchful eye on the executive government and everything else that has to do with taxpayers' money.

"Macedonia needs an institution that will set an example and serve as a corrective to the shortcomings of the system as part of its commitment to combat corruption," Zaev said on Tuesday. Enditem