At today’s afternoon conference for the media organized by the State Election Commission, the President of the SEC, Aleksandar Dashtevski, showed unprofessional and disparaging attitude towards some journalists in the part when he was trying to reply to journalist questions.
In responding to a question from a journalist in regards to the announcement for extension of the deadline for voting after 7.00 pm and the announcement for extension of the media silence, instead of giving a specific reply, he had a verbal argument with his colleague. Namely, Dashtevski failed to give a specific reply and at the same time was interested in what television his colleague was from, after which he addressed her with the words: “you need to inform yourselves well before asking a question” as well as that the journalist should read the law before asking.
We remind President Dashtevski that according to the Electoral Code, Article 31, the SEC has an obligation to inform and educate the public about the manner of voting and exercising the right to vote; on the other hand, the journalist has the right to express an opinion and to ask questions regardless of which media outlet they come from and whether the President of the SEC likes that question or not.
Therefore, we remind that journalists and the media have a key role in the election process, not just to review the work of the competent institutions, but to also enable citizens to have all necessary information. To satisfy the right to information, particularly on election day, it is necessary for the State Election Commission and all other institutions to be open to journalists by providing information in an unselective manner timely and completely.
Moreover, several complaints arrived to the AJM during the day from online media for having their work hindered by supporters of political parties, as well as for inappropriate attitude of members of the MoI in Skopje and in several other cities. With the purpose not to leave an impression in the public that law enforcement authorities are ignoring these incidents, we demand for them to be urgently cleared up by the police and quick informing of the public.
