Representatives of CIVIL met with Minister of Justice Krenar Lloga today, where they discussed issues related to the upcoming changes to the Electoral Code, as well as the election processes overall. President of CIVIL Xhabir Deralla informed Minister Lloga about the plans of the organization, as well as the current activities related to the elections, election monitoring, political funding and recommendations and ideas regarding reforms in the electoral system.

Activities for establishing a Working Group for amendments to the Electoral Code were particularly discussed at the meeting. Minister Lloga said that the offer is open for representative of VMRO-DPMNE to be elected as president of the Working Group. The position is common that in these processes constructive cooperation is necessary both from political parties and from the NGO sector.

Having in consideration that the elections, presidential and parliamentarian, are anticipated for 2024, a discussion was also opened on what the prioritiesare for amending and supplementing the Electoral Code, after which both sides concluded that this process has to be completed no later than six months before the elections are held, which is a long-standing and firm recommendation of the OSCE, as well as of CIVIL, and certainly also part of the legal regulation. In most election processes over the past dozen years, amendments to the Electoral Code were made contrary to these recommendations, often just a few days before the elections were held.

Minister Lloga and CIVIL’s representatives agreed that such practice has to end. Furthermore, both sides fully agreed that the country needs a completely new Electoral Code, but that for such a thing, ahead of an election year, there are no conditions, which does not exclude the possibility for preparations for this process to begin immediately.

At the meeting that lasted over an hour, many other issues were also discussed related to the social and political situation and processes in the country and beyond, as well as their influence on the elections processes. In that sense, issues related to disinformation and propaganda were in particular highlighted. The meeting ended with a joint commitment for close cooperation in key areas related to the elections, but also other areas related to protection of human rights and freedoms.

B.Jordanovska

Translation: N. Cvetkovska