Macedonia's electoral code and constitution facing more reforms

06/10/2008

Political parties in Macedonia are again discussing changes to the electoral code. Most controversial are proposals to guarantee a quota of deputies for ethnic minorities and voting rights for the diaspora.

By Marina Stojanovska for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 06/10/08

The two largest ethnic-Albanian parties, DUI and DPA, oppose diaspora voting rights, arguing they would dilute the Badenter principle, which protects ethnic minorities. [Getty Images]

Macedonia's four major political parties -- VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, DUI and DPA -- reached a consensus on some changes to the electoral code that they debated on September 25th.

The parties agreed that sources of campaign financing should not go unidentified and that the parties should submit their financial reports within 15 days to the State Electoral Commission. Among the suggested changes are guaranteeing ten seats to smaller ethnic communities and giving the diaspora the right to vote for three additional seats in parliament. Enacting both ideas would raise the number of deputies from 120 to 133.

The OSCE/ODIHR suggests that, because of the increased number of irregularities in the last parliamentary elections, violators of election law should pay a higher fine, ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 euros.

The parties disagreed on parliamentary quotas for smaller communities and voting rights for the diaspora. The two largest Albanian parties, DUI and DPA, oppose diaspora voting rights, arguing they would dilute the Badenter principle, which protects ethnic minorities. It mandates that some bills require approval not just by a majority of all deputies but by a majority of ethnic-minority deputies too in order to become law.

SDSM noted the absence of safeguards to prevent double voting by emigrants, once abroad and once in Macedonia.

The parties also differed on amending rules for presidential elections. For instance, DUI believes parliament should elect the president, to minimise irregularities and save money on elections. VMRO-DPMNE voted to abolish the requirement that a candidate must poll 50% in a runoff to become president, with SDSM repeating its old proposal to cut the requirement to 30%.

"This amendment aims to discontinue the cycle of stuffing ballot boxes and irregularities that has marked almost every presidential election so far," said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

DPA opposes abolition of the 50% requirement for runoffs, saying it would demoralise Albanian voters, a prediction with which many experts agree.

"Eliminating the 50% requirement reduces the chances for consensus between the ethnic-Macedonian and ethnic-Albanian parties and raises questions about a president's legitimacy," says Jeton Shasivari, a professor at Southeast European University in Tetovo.