The Mayor of the Municipality of Kavadarci, Aleksandar Panov, sentenced to two months in prison for electoral bribery, exchanged his stay in prison with preparations for local elections, and also a referendum against refugees.
Aleksandar Panov
The Council of the Municipality of Kavadarci made a decision to announce a referendum against migrants. According to the Council’s decision, at the referendum at the local level, the citizens of the Municipality of Kavadarci will be voting on the referendum question: “Are you in favor of the settling and integration of migrants on the territory of the Municipality of Kavadarci?”
According to the coordinator of VMRO-DPMNE’s advisory group that started the referendum initiative, Zoran Jovancev, the decision for announcing the referendum is of great significance for the municipality. Jovancev emphasized that the coinciding of the day of the referendum with the day of the local elections would be good for the referendum turnout. Mayor Panov and the President of the Municipal Council Gorica Pelivanova – Vilhelm also share this opinion, who say that the legal deadlines will decide whether the referendum and the local elections will be held on the same day.
According to the law, the referendum should be held no later than 40 days from the day the decision for announcing the referendum has been published in the official newsletter of the Municipality of Kavadarci, which, however, leaves room for coinciding with the date for the local elections that have been scheduled for October 15.
Professor Dr. Svetomir Shkaric
Professor Svetomir Shkaric, in a statement for CIVIL Media, says that there is no direct obstacle or legally foreseen prohibition for conducting a referendum on the same day with the local elections, since such a practice has not happened until now. He emphasized that a problem may occur in the implementation of the referendum by the Municipal Election Commission.
“The Municipal Election Commission is authorized with the Electoral Code to implement local elections. The State Election Commission appoints the Municipal Election Commission, which appoints electoral bodies, meaning that the bodies for conducting the referendum will be under the competence of the SEC, which then raises the question of whether it is permissible for a municipal commission that is formed by the SEC for local elections, to receive additional tasks at the same”, says Professor Shkaric.
Professor Dr. Mirjana Najchevska
Professor Mirjana Najchevska, however, has a different opinion, who says that the local elections and the referendums in Kavadarci and Stip cannot be held on the same day.
According to Article 65 of the Law on Referendums, the means for conducting of a referendum at the local level are provided from the budget of the municipality, the City of Skopje and the municipalities in the City of Skopje. This article is contrary to Article 8-a, paragraph 1, item1: Budget funds of the Republic of Macedonia, the funds of the budgets of the municipalities and the City of Skopje, public funds and funds of public enterprises and public institutions or legal entities that dispose of state capital shall not be disposable from the day the decision for announcing elections has been made until the end of the elections (presidential, parliamentary or local). This means that the municipality cannot hold/pay a referendum until the end of the elections.
The Council of the Municipality of Stip has also voted on starting a procedure for announcing a referendum, at which the citizens will be deciding on the “Strategy for the integration of refugees and foreigners 2017-2027”. VMRO-DPMNE council members voted “for”, whereas SDSM members ofcouncil left the hall before the voting. The civil initiative “Awakening” from Stip submitted to the Council of the Municipality 356 signatures from citizens supporting the initiative for a referendum.
Collecting signatures in the Municipality of Aerodrom
The so-called civil initiative “Awakening”, which includes also municipal officials from VMRO-DPMNE, is gathering signatures in several municipalities in the country, against, as they say, the construction of apartments for refugees, which the state plans to accept on its territory.
CIVIL Media recently also carried out a survey among the citizens of Skopje on the topic of refugees. None of the surveyed citizens in Skopje, who spoke in front of CIVIL Media’s camera, replied that they felt any danger from migrants who are using Macedonia as a transit country to reach Europe.
Mersiha Smailovic from the association Legis, says that the fear and paranoia are prompted for purely political reasons, and with those political points that they want to gain in their electorate they are sowing xenophobia, islamophobia and hatred.
Mersiha Smailovic
According to Smailovic, the referendum should definitely not be held on the same day with the local elections, because many citizens who are clear in their positions will be afraid to go to the polling stations and vote at the local elections, which is their constitutionally guaranteed right”.
“Citizens have the right to tailor the policies of the municipality in which they belong, whether that will be through a referendum or local elections, no one can deny this right of the citizens. We as Legis support any referendum voting for any question. In regards to the refugee camps, I think that it is clear to all of us, except perhaps to the organizers of the campaign, that it is a classical spin, because the decision of the Government is clear that in Macedonia refugee camps will not be built”, stated Smailovic.
“The sole purpose of these referendums is through xenophobic hysteria against refugees, to introduce interethnic and inter-religious tensions ahead of the local elections, to impose national topics, at the expense of local ones, as was the case also with the previous local elections in 2013. There is no other motive. This is another attempt to avoid responsibility, raising the stakes, that is, the price of the skin of those for whom investigations are being led and court procedures for serious crimes, corruption and election theft” – stated Xhabir Deralla from CIVIL – Center for Freedom.
Like in the past nine years, CIVIL continues with its long-term monitoring of the implementation of elections, as well as of the socio-political processes entirely, with particular emphasis on the situation of human rights and freedoms. At 45 days before local elections, the organization sent an #Alarm to the public and the institutions.
Маја Ivanovska
