Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Monday efforts are made to incorporate the opposition’s proposals related to the Law on Census.
“The opposition has been involved in the discussions over the Census for the past 1,5 years through working groups, meetings with the State Statistical Office director etc,” PM Zaev told reporters during a visit to Tetovo.
He said the operation includes three sections of census-taking – one for the total number of citizens, the second for residents in the country, and the third for nationals who are out of the country for more than a year – which makes the debate on the ethnic affiliation or percentages irrelevant and irrational.
“The opposition’s proposal is to use fingerprints. I am not sure how will this be carried out for citizens who are out of the country for more than a year, but efforts are invested nevertheless,” added Zaev.
According to him, the Census is an obligation of the citizens and they have to be processed in compliance with Eurostat standards.
“The census takers are professionals, they do not come from SDSM, DUI, Alliance for Albanians or VMRO-DPMNE. They go in groups, the database we have is electronic and we will compare data. At the end of the day, we need this for the purpose of the economic indicators that will help the country develop policies,” said Zaev.
The PM said the Census would not take place if the ruling or opposition parties fail to agree on the law.
“Elections will be held in the fall, 2022 is too late. I believe North Macedonia is the only country in Europe that has not held a census in 18 years,” noted Zaev.
