Xhabir Deralla in the TV21 debate show “Click Plus” (October 19), like the other participants, Ilija Dimovski from VMRO-DPMNE and analyst Sasho Klekovski, assessed election day held on October 17 as democratic, but also reflected on several irregularities.
Deralla reminded that CIVIL fosters the principle zero tolerance for election irregularities, but even more so, it is understandable that the analyses must ensure that the reports from the ground undergo at least one more step of checking and verification.
“I can say that out of seventeen categories in which we observe election processes, half of these categories, unfortunately, appeared in these elections as well. Certainly, it is a bit early to say that we have a completely finished report with all verified data. Nevertheless, it was a democratic process, and proof of that is that the opposition won a notable number of positions” – said Deralla.
Like in previous media appearances, Deralla once again stressed the problem with the fingerprint devices.
“Unfortunately, what marked the day are the fingerprint devices. The President of the SEC warned that problems are possible, said that they had arrived very late, that he cannot guarantee that their use will be successful. The SEC probably could not have guaranteed success, but there has to be some kind of responsibility. It has to be discussed in the public, how to overcome this situation. There were election boards that opened on time, at 7.00 am, but there was a delay because the election boards could not put the devices into function” – said Deralla.
According to him, the non-functioning of the fingerprint devices, which cost 11 million euro, also contributed to violation of the right to vote:
“It also contributed to violation of the right to vote, because a certain number of people gave up on voting precisely because of this. Additionally, there were people in lines, in crowds, which exposed them to a health risk, because of COVID-19. They were also exposed to agitation. That is violation to the right to vote, because the state has an obligation to provide maximum conditions for exercising the right to vote” – said Deralla in his guest appearance in Click Plus on TV21.
He also outlined the problem with abuse of events and processes in the campaign, such as the tragedy in Tetovo, the rescuing of civilians from Afghanistan and the census, for spreading hatred and a black campaign.
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В. К. / FRONTLINE
