Despite the recommendations from Priebe’s Report, despite the promises of the Government that this composition is just temporary, the parliamentary parties have, nevertheless, decided unanimously to extend the mandate of the current members of the State Election Commission for two years. At today’s parliamentary session, the unanimous decision of the MPs is a result of the lack of common language between the government and the opposition. In anticipation of the presidential elections 2019, the question is how much this decision is in order.

Namely, the criticisms in Priebe’s Report were towards the SEC’s partisanship, and the recommendations were for a professional body to be formed that would decide on the electoral processes and for this to be regulated with the changes in the Electoral Code.

The criticisms and assessments in terms of the SEC’s work, its partisanship and efficiency that were made much earlier than those of the expert group led by Reinhard Priebe, were made precisely by CIVIL. In the years when very rarely someone spoke about the serious problems with the Voters

Register and the manner in which the electoral processes were being carried out during Gruevski’s regime, CIVIL revealed startling facts about the electoral system and the implementation of the elections, whereas the recommendations and the demands were part of the steps for getting rid of the country’s partisanship and the influence of the parties in the electoral process in which the greatest victim was the citizens’ right to vote.

According to the current decisions, the Electoral Code is again to be changed in a quick procedure, whereas Article 26, paragraph 4 will read: “The mandate of the President, the Vice President and members of the SEC shall last from the day of the election from the Parliament until the election of a new composition, but no longer than two years”.

The decisions that are being imposed by the opposition are a bit contradictory. If we recall, it was precisely VMRO-DPMNE that accused of filling ballot boxes and of referendum irregularities, which is actually a responsibility and shortcoming of the SEC and its composition. A month later, without a debate in the public, they agree to extend the mandate of the members of the SEC, whose president, Oliver Derkoski, is from among their lines, and whose work they implicitly criticized through their public appearances and assessments at the referendum. On the other hand, that same president claimed that the Voters Register is clean and that the Referendum had passed according to the legal regulations.

CIVIL as an organization that has been following the election processes in the country from 2008, has more than once in its reports, recommendations and findings referred to the non-functioning of the current SEC, which was constantly repeating the same mistakes as the previous composition.

The Voters Register is not the only problem. CIVIL has quite a few times made remarks also about the expertise of the election administration and the protection of the voting right. Just as an illustration, out of a total of 59 complaints, only two have been adopted, while the rest are either denied or rejected.

At the same time, the most acceptable election model also has to decided. One of CIVIL’s recommendations is for one electoral unit.

There has to be a new election model and new composition of the SEC until June 2019, according to the recommendations of Priebe, if the goal is a date for negotiations for joining the European Union.

Biljana Jordanovska