SEC
ANNOUNCES THE INITIAL RESULTS
- REFERENDUM 2004
Voter
turnout from Sunday's
referendum on territorial
organization according
to the State Election
Commission equalled 26,24%.
SEC
Spokesman said that out
of 95,43% of the processed
data, out of the total
1.709.536 voters, 436.202
voted. 409.886 voted for
and 21.471 voted against.
The number of invalid
ballots is 4.845.
Out
of the total of 2.973
polling stations, 2.837
were processed.
TRAINING
OF ELECTORAL BOARD MEMBERS
- REFERENDUM 2004
As
an integral part of the
technical assistance program
to the State Election
Commission of the Republic
of Macedonia, IFES is
again engaged in the process
of training of Electoral
Board Members.
There
are 2973 Electoral Boards
throughout Macedonia which
will administer the voting
on the Referendum Day.
According to the Law on
Referendum and Civil Initiative,
each electoral board is
made up of three members
and three deputies. However,
five staff will administer
each polling station to
ensure smooth technical
operations.
An
integral part of the training
program is the Electoral
Board Procedure Manual
which details the duties
and responsibilities of
Electoral Board members,
technical aspects of voting,
and relevant articles
of the Law on Referendum
and Civil Initiative and
Law on Election of Members
of Parliament of the Republic
of Macedonia. The Manual
was officially approved
by the SEC on October
15, 2004 and has been
printed in Macedonian
(15,500), Albanian (4,000),
and English (500). Each
electoral board member
and deputy member is supplied
with a manual, while one
extra copy is placed in
the polling kit delivered
to each polling station.
The English language version
is also provided to International
Observers.
On
October 16, 2004 IFES
Macedonia organized one-day
training session for the
37 local trainers who
will conduct the training
of electoral board members.
Almost all of the local
trainers were engaged
in past elections and
so are very familiar with
procedures, duties, and
responsibilities of EBs.
Mr. Stevo Pendarovski,
President of the State
Election Commission, also
participated in this session
and he discussed different
technical aspects regarding
the voting on the Referendum
Day.
REFERENDUM
ON LAW ON TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION
OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
In
accordance with the provisions
of the Ohrid Framework
Agreement, the Republic
of Macedonia is obliged
to pass the package of
29 laws on decentralization,
including the Law on Territorial
Organization. This Law
was passed by the Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
on August 11, 2004. It
envisions a reduction
in the number of municipalities
from 123 to 84.
On
January 16, 2004 the World
Macedonian Congress
started a citizen initiative
to collect 150,000 signatures
for announcing a referendum
on keeping the 1996 Law
on Territorial Organization
i.e. the current number
of municipalities. The
collection of signatures
in district offices of
the Ministry of Justice
started on February 23,
2004 and ended on August
23, 2004. As a result
of this effort 180,454
signatures were collected.
The Parliament of the
Republic of Macedonia
adopted the decision for
announcing the referendum
on September 03, 2004
in accordance with the
Constitution of the Republic
of Macedonia Article 73
paragraph 3: “The Assembly
is obliged to issue notice
of a referendum if one
is proposed by at least
150,000 voters. The decision
made in a referendum is
binding.
The referendum is scheduled
for November 07, 2004.
In order to have a successful
referendum two thresholds
must be passed: half of
the registered voters
must cast their vote and
half of them must vote
in favor.
The
referendum question is:
“Are
you in favor of the territorial
organization of the local
self government (the municipalities
and City of Skopje) as
determined by the Law
on Territorial Division
of the Republic of Macedonia
and Determination of the
Areas of Local Self-Government
Units (Official Gazette
of the Republic of Macedonia
No. 49/1996) and the Law
on the City of Skopje
(Official Gazette of the
Republic of Macedonia
No. 49/1996)?
Macedonian
Parliament adopted Tuesday,
August 3, 2004 the amendments
in the Law on Local Elections.
A total of 62 deputies
voted "for"
the law.
"For the purpose
of holding the upcoming
local elections, we must
change the existing law,
i.e. the term of their
implementation, so that
the decentralization law
package is passed according
to the Framework Agreement
and the new constitutional
amendments", Justice
Minister Ixhet Memeti
stated before the discussion
on the Government's proposal
for supplements in the
Law on Local Elections.
With the adoption of this
law, the local elections
should be held on November
21, i.e. one month later
than scheduled, because
the decentralization law
package has not been adopted
yet.
INTERVIEW
WITH MR. ZORAN SHAPURICH ON
POLITICAL FINANCE AND ANTI-CORRUPTION
In
the coming months, Macedonia
is expected to enact significant
legislation aimed at regulating
political party finance.
This is an important first
step in the fight against
corruption that will improve
the country’s political
life and help bolster
citizens’ confidence in
the political system and
its institutions.
The
new legislation will address
disclosure requirements,
spending limitations and
contribution prohibitions
for parties. IFES recently
interviewed the main architect
of the draft legislation,
Member of Parliament Zoran
Shapurich, about this
and related anti-corruption
efforts in Macedonia
On
May 26, 2004, Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
passed the Proposed Law
on Amending and Supplementing
the Law on Local Elections.
Reduced
period of campaigning
from 30 to 20 days; equal
gender representation
of at least 30% in both
the upper and lower part
of the candidates list;
provision on use of languages
(implementation of using
of languages as provided
in the Constitution and
Ohrid Framework Agreement)
in ballot, Electoral Boards
minutes, public announcements,
work of the Municipal
Election Commissions and
Electoral Boards and candidates’
lists; and threshold for
election of mayor in the
first round of 33% are
some of the new amendments
in the Law.
On
June 1 2004, mandator
Hari
Kostov addressed the Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
on establishing new government.
The emphasis was put on
the process of decentralization,
Ohrid Framework Agreement,
national strategy for
Euro-Atlantic integrations,
as well as improving the
overall economic situation
and foreign investments.
The
State Election Commission
handed over the Certificate
to Crvenkovski confirming
that he is the newly elected
President of the Republic
of Macedonia. According
to SEC Spokesman, Zoran
Tanevski, with this act
the 3 days deadline in
which the President should
give his solemn statement
has begun.
According to the Parliamentary
sources, the inaugural
session will probably
take place on Wednesday
in the Macedonian Parliament.
Crvenkovski will swear
to follow the Constitution
and the Laws, after which
he will officially take
the position of President
of the Republic of Macedonia,
the Agency of Information
reports.
According
to preliminary results
from the second round
of elections on April
28th, Prime Minister Branko
Crvenkovski will become
the next President of
Macedonia. Final results
are expected to be announced
over the weekend.
While
noting that there had
been an increase in irregularities
from the first round of
voting, the Head of the
OSCE/ODIHR Observation
Mission, Ambassador Friedrich
Bauer, said at an April
29th press conference
that the “overall picture
remains that of a democratic
election held under extraordinary
circumstances.” He praised
the State Election Commission
(SEC) for “a remarkable
job” in organizing the
elections in such a short
period of time.
The
first round of the presidential
election was held on April
14th.
On
April 15th, the State
Election Commission announced
preliminary results, as
follows:
Turnout:
55.14 % of all registered
voters
Valid
Votes: 53.50% of all
registered voters
Invalid
Votes: 1.64% of all
registered voters
Zudi
Xhelili: 8.63% of the
votes cast
Branko
Crvenkovski: 42.49%
of the votes cast
Gzim
Ostreni: 14.78% of the
votes cast
Sashko
Kedev 34.09% of the
votes cast
Mr.
Kedev, a VMRO-DPMNE MP,
will compete in the second
round of elections against
Prime Minister Crvenkovski,
who is also the President
of SDSM. The second round
will be held on April
28th. In order for the
election to be valid,
at least 50% plus one
of all registered voters
must cast votes.
Voter
turnout from Sunday's
referendum on territorial
organization according
to the State Election
Commission equalled 26,24%.
There
are 2973 Electoral Boards
throughout Macedonia which
will administer the voting
on the Referendum Day.
According to the Law on
Referendum and Civil Initiative,
each electoral board is
made up of three members
and three deputies. However,
five staff will administer
each polling station to
ensure smooth technical
operations.
Hari
Kostov addressed the Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
on establishing new government.
The emphasis was put on
the process of decentralization,
Ohrid Framework Agreement,
national strategy for
Euro-Atlantic integrations,
as well as improving the
overall economic situation
and foreign investments.
The
State Election Commission
handed over the Certificate
to Crvenkovski confirming
that he is the newly elected
President of the Republic
of Macedonia. According
to SEC Spokesman, Zoran
Tanevski, with this act
the 3 days deadline in
which the President should
give his solemn statement
has begun. 
While
noting that there had
been an increase in irregularities
from the first round of
voting, the Head of the
OSCE/ODIHR Observation
Mission, Ambassador Friedrich
Bauer, said at an April
29th press conference
that the “overall picture
remains that of a democratic
election held under extraordinary
circumstances.” He praised
the State Election Commission
(SEC) for “a remarkable
job” in organizing the
elections in such a short
period of time.
The
first round of the presidential
election was held on April
14th. 
Mr.
Kedev, a VMRO-DPMNE MP,
will compete in the second
round of elections against
Prime Minister Crvenkovski,
who is also the President
of SDSM. The second round
will be held on April
28th. In order for the
election to be valid,
at least 50% plus one
of all registered voters
must cast votes.