Following the results published of the 2021 census, today the government and the opposition are with diametrically opposed views and interpretations of the results. While the government considers the census to be successful, implemented according to all European standards, the opposition considers it to be incomplete. The Democratic Union of Pavle Trajanov, which is part of the ruling majority, also joined the criticism of the results.
VMRO-DPMNE consider that the census, the results of which were presented today, is incomplete due to the presented fact that 7.2 percent of the citizens had not been enumerated, and the data had been taken from databases, without having defined their ethnicity. The census, according to the party is also devastating, due to the alarming number of emigrations from the country.
According to Antonijo Milososki, MP and member of the Executive Committee of VMRO-DPMNE, the census figures are an indicator of failure because, as he outlined, there is a strong wave of emigrations, is an operation conducted with many remarks and with much politics. Therefore, emphasized Milososki, we think that everyone has the right to doubt such numbers.
The President of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, in his guest appearance on the show “What’s Not Clear” on Alfa TV, reflected on the results of the census that were presented today to the Macedonian public. Mickoski called this census incomplete and stressed that immediately after the change of government, a new statistical and real operation will be made.
MP Halil Snopce from the Alliance for Albanians, today at a press conference pointed out that the party is in a process of reviewing the published results of the census and soon will come out with a detailed analysis in this respect.
“However, at first glance, we express our reservations about the credibility of this process, particularly in two segments. Over 132.000 citizens are imputed and not enumerated on the ground, while we believe the number of around 260.000 citizens who live abroad does not correspond to the reality and to the published data so far by international organizations. These two points create big dilemmas about how the census was conducted of these citizens, whether all citizens were included or some selection was made”, says Snopce.
He adds that a census where the nationality of about 8.5% of the total population and of the resident population is not known, cannot be assessed as a credible census
For the Democratic Union, the results of the census do not reflect the reality. According to the initial analyses of the published census data, the Democratic Union assesses that they do not reflect the factual situation.
In the diaspora, assessments are that only 10% of the Macedonians have been enumerated, whereas in Macedonia, out of the resident population, mostly Macedonians, more than 130.000 have not been enumerated. These figures impose the conclusion that the census is unsuccessful and thus the reasons for this should be sough along with responsibility.
There are many factors that had an influence for the census not to be successful: the destruction and the call for a boycott by some parties, the poor preparations, the methodology for implementing the census, partisanship, poor training of enumerators, lack of control and similar.
The Democratic Union suggests that additional cross-checks and data checks be made, and an additional census be performed for the non-resident population (those who have emigrated).
SDSM assessed the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings that was finally held after 20 years in our country is a big success for the citizens of the country, a big success for the country overall.
The ruling party stresses that from the very beginning they are consistent that the census is necessary and that it finally has to happen, that they are truly satisfied because it is a successfully implemented census after 20 years, for the first time a combined census that was implemented in the middle of a pandemic with all the protection protocols and remarkably successful when 99% are enumerated, which is a result that not even many developed European countries can boast of.
After 20 years we have a successful census, conducted according to the highest world standards of EUROSTAT, recognized by all international and domestic relevant factors, reacts SDSM following the statements by Krmov from Levica.
Levica’s calls for boycotting the census did not succeed, or their attempts for it to be hindered and not held. It is a defeat for all destructive forces working against the state interests, such as Levica.
The leader of DUI, Ali Ahmeti, congratulated all those involved in the census, which, as he wrote on his Facebook profile, was not at all an easy process, but was completed successfully.
D. Mishev
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
