Parliament gives the green light to Electoral Code changes under a fast-track procedure

With 59 votes in favor, three against and none abstaining, Parliament approved the need for the draft law on amendments and additions to the Electoral Code to proceed under a fast-track procedure. This draft law is part of the reform agenda.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Antonijo Miloshoski assigned the Committee on Political System and Inter-Community Relations as the main working body, while the Legislative and Legal Committee will also convene to review the draft law.

The initiative was submitted to Parliament by MPs Antonijo Miloshoski, Zeqirija Tairi, Daniel Stojçevski, Blerim Bexheti and Ivanka Vasilevska. Among the solutions envisaged in the amendments are electronic voting for the diaspora, as well as changes in the segment of state financing for parties.

Explaining why the Electoral Code should be adopted under a fast-track procedure, the proposer stressed that its content had been discussed for four months within the Ministry of Justice. Representatives of political parties took part in these talks, with the exception of SDSM, which was initially involved and later withdrew.

Miloshoski stated that during these discussions, agreement was reached on 28 ODIHR recommendations, which were accepted by consensus. According to him, in the working group at the Ministry of Justice there was no outvoting on any issue, and decision-making was always carried out by mutual agreement. He added that these topics could also be discussed in parliamentary sessions and committees.

Regarding the electoral model, Miloshoski said that the majority of political parties had expressed support for a single electoral district, while two parties supported the model with eight and three districts. Since no consensus was reached on this, the current solution of six electoral districts remains in force.

On diaspora voting, Miloshoski clarified that agreement had been reached for it to be made possible according to the practice of France and Estonia, through secure and protected electronic voting.

He also stressed that major assistance in this process came from representatives of the State Election Commission, the State Audit Office, the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, and the Anti-Corruption Commission. According to him, these institutions presented their proposals, most of which were accepted, on how to amend the Electoral Code in the service of developing democratic, fair, transparent and efficient elections.

Regarding the model for the use of funds for election advertising, Miloshoski said that unanimous consensus had been reached on this issue.

He assessed that in this process there was not a single case in which one party outvoted another, or in which certain representatives of political parties ignored the proposals of their colleagues. According to Miloshoski, the consensus reached by most of the parties that participated in the Working Group at the Ministry of Justice should be considered an important achievement and progress in the norms of the Electoral Code.