During the Meeting with the citizens on the topic ALL FOR FREE ELECTIONS that was held in Ohrid, Sinisa Stankovic presented the project and led the event. We are publishing fragments of his presentations:
[youtube width=”600″ height=”400″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Td6T8eF8M[/youtube]
“Is it possible to have elections in Macedonia that will be without any or minimal objections? Is it possible to have elections from which a positive report will be submitted to the international community? But above all, I think it is more important, even in Macedonia, for the losing side to be aware that they have lost in honorable, peaceful, fair, free and democratic elections….
In the flyers which we have distributed among you, indeed it does say that the project “Free Elections for Free Citizens” is implemented by CIVIL-Center for Freedom, and is supported by the German Embassy and the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs, but it is a project of all the citizens of Macedonia. When we write about that, we really mean it, because if the citizens of Macedonia cannot wake up in a rich country, if they cannott wake up in a democracy of a Norwegian or of Scandinavian type, surly they deserve to go to elections in a relaxed manner. To vote for the political option that they believe will help them live better lives, for nobody to exert pressure upon them, with no blackmail, no racketeering, no threats for dismissals of work, to not have, unfortunately, the large number of things that have been happening to us in numerous electoral cycles in the past years.
For me to join in on citizen activism, a determining factor was a case for which CIVIL-Center for Freedom was reporting on a while back, and for which I also was reporting on as a journalist, at a time when not one editor believed me that an article could be sent stating how someone made up the existence of an entire section of a building.
The editors, besides nodding negatively with their heads, didn’t believe it was possible: “People, in what kind of a country do you live in?” That’s when I said that journalists and journalists’ texts are unable to help on their own, and that is why we all need to help ourselves in our own surrounding, and help our children and our own country. That is why we do what we do…That is why I hope that it is possible to live better lives, because I want to believe that the average citizen of Macedonia knows what democracy is, wants to live in a democratic and civilized country, and wants to do as much as possible to provide a better life….
I want to believe also in the network of observers which CIVIL has created, is creating and is actively working on, part of which will additionally be sent to training until the elections in April, or whenever they are going to be held, to the first ones that will be held… I want to believe that the number of necessary observers who will be taking notes of electoral irregularities will begin to decrease and that soon they will not be needed.
Nobody can help us, not even the foreigners, if we don’t help ourselves, and if we ourselves don’t create the conditions to live in a healthier society, and a healthier society will produce a more stable country.
I hope that with this project as well, and with these kind of meetings and arguments in the media, which maybe will free themselves and open up, we will come to a situation in which there will be no need for police and protesters to go against each other, and for four leaders to make decisions for the future of this country in restaurants.
