New round of talks on the Electoral Code tomorrow, Gashi backs electronic voting for the diaspora

Tomorrow, the coordinators of the parliamentary groups will once again gather at a joint table, in a new effort to find agreement on the new Electoral Code. The aim is for the legal solution to be adopted before the new deadline set by the European Union, as part of progress on the reform agenda.

At today’s briefing with journalists, Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi said he supports diaspora voting, provided the state guarantees the secrecy of the ballot.

“In principle, I am in favor of electronic voting for the diaspora, and I even support making this possible within the country as well. By enabling electronic voting for the diaspora, we will achieve the principle that every citizen has the right to vote, but only if the state is ready to ensure the secrecy of the vote. There must be goodwill and understanding, because this law requires party consensus and it is not good to remain in trenches or draw red lines,” said Afrim Gashi, Speaker of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the work of the Commission for Political System has been suspended for the time being, after SDSM and Levica submitted 13,500 amendments. All of these amendments must be translated, and there is still no announcement as to when the Commission may resume its work or whether there will first be any possible agreement between the parties on the Electoral Code.

SDSM says that Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE have no intention of giving up what they claim are manipulations and abuses involving more than 200,000 votes from the diaspora.

“It is dangerous and worrying that VMRO is categorically refusing for the SEC, by consensus, to regulate the procedures for diaspora voting. What is the government afraid of? If their true goal is indeed a fair and democratic electoral process, then why are they running away from a mechanism that ensures control, trust and consent among all political actors? But the truth is that their goal is not a better electoral process, but opening space for electoral engineering and manipulation,” added Bogdanka Kuzeska, SDSM spokesperson.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Mickoski made an open offer to the opposition, saying he is ready to accept a single electoral district and also Levica’s request for greater campaign financing for small parties, if the Electoral Code that includes electronic voting for the diaspora is adopted. Today as well, VMRO-DPMNE continued its criticism of the opposition, accusing it of deliberately blocking the adoption of the Electoral Code.

“Venko Zaev and LSD oppose a solution that would allow Macedonia’s diaspora to vote in the largest possible numbers. We, as VMRO-DPMNE, proposed that this be done electronically or by mail. This proposal was rejected by Venko Zaev and LSD, because they are dominated by fear that the citizens who left the state during their period in government will not support their policy,” said Valentin Manasievski.