Some fifteen days after Parliament adopted the law on census, slated for April. and after President Stevo Pendarovski said that it shouldn’t be a problem the headcount to be postponed for May or June, PM Zoran Zaev said the option was worth considering.

“We know a census can’t be conducted in summer. Election campaign is due in September, and local elections in October. Even if we consider a delay by a month or so, so that we complete the operation by mid-June, I see that the opposition has already refused, so I call on everyone to be responsible and conduct the census,” Zaev said on Wednesday.

According to the PM, the census methodology is in line with all Eurostat standards and all international standards.

“The country is equipped with some of the databases necessary for this statistical operation. Some of the electronic databases will be used to compare checks on the ground, while other information would need to be completed on the ground, as there are no databases. Of course, this would be in line with all health protocols. The least we can all do for the country in terms of this issue is to show responsibility,” Zaev noted.

He underlined that the census is neither to deny rights nor to grant new rights, but census data are vital to the country’s development, to regional development, economic policies, employment, industrial zones, development of new economic policies, opening new jobs, etc.

Also, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi has said that political decision is required to postpone the census.

According to him, Parliament adopted a census law regulating among other things deadlines for all stakeholders involved.

“At this point, I think it is nonsense for people to be presenting any kind of views. If someone thinks that it should be postponed, then it requires a political decision, which should be translated into a law,” Speaker Xhaferi tells MIA.

Asked about demands that the census should be postponed for June or July, he doubts that the pandemic will be over by then. “Does anyone has any information that it will be over by June/July so that we can organize headcount or will we once again descend into legal chaos,” he asks.

Accordng to Xhaferi, political commentary as such is not enough for a decision.

“Legislation was adopted. Either everyone will be engaged to implement the law or they will press ahead with what they are saying they will. There are those who say they will collect signatures, while others pledge to implement the law and there’s a third group of people seeking other preconditions. It is becoming a political debate in which as Parliament Speaker I don’t want to be involved. It’s was Parliament’s duty to adopt a law,” Xhaferi tells MIA among other things.

On Wednesday, the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party officially launched an initiative to rescind the census law, which according to party leader Hristijan Mickoski was adopted without consensus and without public health amid a pandemic being taken into any kind of consideration.

He reiterated that many countries in the region, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, as well as Romania and Germany had decided to postpone the census for 2022 in the interest of public health.

“Macedonia is decisively on the top of the list of countries with most cases and casualties due to the government’s inability to manage COVID-19. As it’s impossible to conduct the census in the fall of 2021, due to local election, we’re calling on the government to see reason, take care of citizens’ health and postpone the process until spring 2022,” Mickoski said.

He stressed that nothing will change if the census is delayed a few months.

We’re calling, the opposition leader stressed, on the government and Parliament to support the opposition’s electronic census option.