At today’s meeting of the chief of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, with civil society organization in Republic of Macedonia, in the capacity of representative of the working group on freedom of expression, media and electoral reforms, the President of CIVIL – Center for Freedom, Xhabir Deralla, spoke about the situation with the media and early parliamentary elections, and also about the developments after the elections.
Following the report that Deralla presented to Mogherini, she briefly stated that these views along with all the developments in Macedonia, will be a subject of discussion with the political leaders and the President of the state.
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Her messages, according to our unofficial sources, in communication with the authorities in Macedonia will be reinforced, while Macedonia as a topic, will be represented at the highest level in European institutions as of next week. The EU will be there to push forward, but will also always provide a helping hand for support and assistance, both for the civil society sector and for the entire country.
The report that Deralla presented:
Freedom of Expression, Media
Pressure and intimidation, death threats, hate speech, various forms of abuses and violation of human rights based on political affiliation are continuous and have been recorded long before, as well as after the elections. We have a record of 23 cases of intimidation against our election observers on the Election Day only, not to speak about a daily pressure and threats that our personnel and supporters experience on daily basis.
Death threats are issued also publicly and spread around through traditional media channels, leaving a strong evidence that those who use hate speech against human rights activists enjoy full impunity by the regime.
Courts are not processing cases of critical CSOs, activists, journalists and opinion makers against the violators of their privacy, dignity and even physical integrity and safety.
Pressure against CSOs is exerted through the Public Revenue Office and financial police in a manner that implies that these institutions are instrumentalized for political purposes. Many activists of the Colorful Revolution face hundreds of court charges for participation in the protests. Physical attacks, cars and property damages, publicizing their personal data, writing graffiti on their house walls, and continuous demonization in pro-government media, etc.
Media continue to be tools of the ruling parties in distorting the reality and public discourse. Biased reporting, slandering, libeling and hate speech are still omnipresent.
Reforms remain formal, instead of substantial. For example, the ad-hoc media regulation body, established upon the Przino Agreement, has completed 67 cases of violation of the Electoral Code by (mostly) pro-government media, but only 10 have reached the courts, where they have been hindered by obstructions. The mandate of this body has ended right after the Election Day, leaving no space for further operation.
Elections
Election processes in the Republic of Macedonia bring an entire palette of socio-political and institutional malfunctions to the surface. In many ways, the 2016 early parliamentary elections represented the legacy of ten years of state and institutional capture by the ruling parties. Structural violence, widespread political corruption, and violation of laws and democratic standards became a dominant feature of everyday life, marked with divisions, fear and intimidation. From blatant to subtle, these malfunctions and severe intrusion into the democratic system, have created conditions for capturing of people’s minds, social engineering at an unprecedented extent. More precisely, electoral fraud in the country has been conducted at an industrial scale, since 2008.
The election process and the campaign in 2016 were filled with fierce nationalist hysteria, manipulation, and fear-mongering. The society emerged from this period more confused, angrier, and more fearful about the future than before. The latest developments and violence are a grim consequence from the wrongdoings of the ruling clique, which is now focused on avoiding justice for their criminal and abusive rule in the past decade.
Abuse of public money, and complete and ruthless abuse and pressure over the public administration were more than obvious, and have been reported in hundreds of field reports in the months before the elections, on the Election Day, and after. Severe social and systemic failures are so deeply rooted and have been the reality of people’s life for so long that have become “normality” and “banality”.
The electoral system, namely the State Election Commission (SEC), has brought an overwhelming portion of irregularities and inefficiencies to the election process. There has been tremendous national and international effort, expertise, support and new legislation endowed to the SEC, providing unprecedented opportunities to this institution to safeguard the legitimacy of elections. In reality, the SEC became one of the most serious problems posed to the election process. Above all, the SEC has manifested utter arrogance and has insulted citizens by its silence and failure to act. By doing so, the SEC has stripped thousands of citizens from their constitutional right to vote on the Election Day.
To our great sadness, but not our surprise, our reports from Election Day are filled with instances of votes being cast by fictitious persons, or “phantom voters,” while actual, living citizens of Macedonia were purged, with no system of redress. Only for this, if not for the many other failures, the SEC had to resign immediately.
Way Out (Recommendations)
Condemnation of the intimidation, pressure, and hate speech by EU institutions, and increase support to CSOs and media in the country, SEC has to be reformed and de-politicized, Voters Register has to be immediately revised, Local Elections have to take place in the legal term, upon swift and substantial reforms, SEC bodies need to be reformed and personnel needs to get proper training, Electoral Code has to be revised in order to clearly discourage and sanction the electoral fraud, Media regulation agency has to be reformed and de-politicized, Measures must be taken against hate speech and violence
Further recommendations
The EU may consider calling upon regulatory bodies and state agencies in the country to reform and improve their conduct in the mentioned areas.
Further, the government and the Parliament, as well as other relevant institutions, have to investigate media ownership, make appropriate legal reforms towards solution of these issues, and make room for free and independent media and journalists to work in a normal environment.
The EU, in partnership with the civil society and independent media, may consider focusing on substantive reforms which bring long-term effects.
Ad-hoc reforms, such as those for the elections in 2016 are more a façade and do not substantially change nondemocratic practice which brought us to state capture. The partnership between the EU and social change actors should be long-lasting, strategic and focused on real changes.
The group that Deralla represented included well-known and relevant organizations, such as Citizen Association MOST, Societas Civilis, SCOOP and others.
