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In February 2016 There Was Noticeable Increasing in the of the Political PROJECT: MONITORING OF THE PRE-ELECTORAL AND ELECTORAL BUDGET EXPENDITURE AND POLITICAL FINANCING MONTHLY REPORT APRIL 2016 Supported by: SKOPJE MAY,2016 1 CONTENT: SUMMARY 3 1. ELECTION PROCESS 4 2. AGENCY FOR AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA (AAVM) 4 3. DEMONSTRATIONS 5 4. VMRO-DPMNE 6 5. SDSM 6 6. DUI 7 7. POLITICAL ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK/LOCAL OFFICES 7 8. ACTIVITIES OF SMALLER POLITICAL PARTIES 7 9. APPROXIMATE EXPENDITURES 8 10. MONITORING OF THE BUDGET EXPENDITURES IN THE PRE-ELECTION PERIOD 8 11. CORRESPONDENCES 16 ANNEX 2 SUMMARY In the month of April the monitoring team of TI-Macedonia, CEA and the partners from the local organizations have noted reduced activities of the political parties regarding the political campaign and promotion of their programs in the eight monitored regions. There are no newly opened local offices or activities typical for electoral campaign (rallies, debates, promotional material). The Parliament dissembled on 06.04.2016 following the previous political decision for early parliamentarian elections on 26 April. As this was not feasible due to the problems with the voters list, the Elections have been politically postponed for the second time, now for the 5th of June. Following days were marked with the Decree issued by the President of the State on 13th April for Abolition of 56 high level officials and interruption of all proceedings against politicians, and the Decision of the President of the Parliament on 15.04.2016 for calling the Early Parliamentary Elections for 5th of June in the situation of dissembled Parliament. These two acts and especially the abolition resulted with demonstrations in Skopje and the following days protests have spread around the major cities around the country. In the period after the first estimation of the political party expenditures (between 07.03.2016-30.04.2016) the following estimated possible expenditures are noted by our team: 1. Gathering in front of the Constitutional Court - total of approximately spending 1.230,000,00 MKD; 2. Promotion of the program of the political parties - total of approximately spending 1.572,000,00 MKD; 3. Demonstrations and civic gatherings - total of approximately spending 4.270,000,00 MKD. (More info about the approximate expenditures, c.9) Within this month the correspondence with the local and the central authorities has slightly reduced and 19 RAPI request have been sent and 14 responses received. Public announcements on the websites of the Government: Unlike the preceding reports, with a tendency for reduction of the number of announcements, during the month of April there have been an increased number of public announcements by 13% compared with the number of public announcements in March. The announcements content is both modest in qualitative and quantitative data – i.e. the percentage of announced information among all monitored institutions (where there are web announcements/posts) is low 3 1. ELECTION PROCESS On 06.04.2016 the President of the Assembly Trajko Veljanovski disassembled the Assembly of Republic of Macedonia, without the presence of the opposition political party SDSM. The Decision for calling the Early Parliamentary Elections, scheduled for 5th of June 2016 by the President of the Assembly, came after several days on 15.04.2016 (photo 1). 2. AGENCY FOR AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA (AAVM) Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services will be monitoring media coverage of the early parliamentary elections starting 15.04.2016. The Agency’s monitoring team and several external associates will be following the 24-hour program of the national televisions and radios on a daily basis. According to the Methodology for Monitoring Media Coverage of Elections in the Radio and Television Program Services, subject to monitoring during the period from calling the elections until the start of the election campaign will be two television and two radio services of the Public Broadcaster and the Parliamentary Broadcast Service, the five televisions broadcasting program using the transmission capacity of a digital terrestrial multiplex, the five satellite televisions, the four cable televisions and two of the national commercial radios. All televisions and radios that will be broadcasting paid political advertising during the election campaign should define their prices by Tuesday, 19 April 2016, at the latest, so that the price per second of paid political advertising shall not exceed the average price of advertising calculated in the three months preceding the day of calling the elections. The pricelists should be submitted to the Agency, the State Election Commission, the State Audit Institute and the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. According to the Electoral Code, the broadcasters are obligated to publish the pricelists for paid political advertising in their program at list twice before the start of the election campaign. Any change of the pricelists is not permitted during the electoral process. Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services in their Report media presentation in the first ten days after the announcement of the elections, concluded that, several media do not respect the program principles of objective and unbiased presentation of events, providing different treatment, equal views on respect for human dignity, to encourage a spirit of tolerance and for independence in editorial policy. The Agency warns that if some of the media continue to broadcast reports that link the policies of the state measures of the electoral programs of political parties and to report on the activities of state authorities at central and local level, in a way that may be a function of electoral media representation of any political entity, will be taken legal measures. 4 3. DEMONSTRATIONS The President of the Republic of Macedonia Gjorgje Ivanov announced the Decision on the interruption of all proceedings against politicians and their supporters belonging to the confronted parties which resulted with demonstrations in Skopje and the following days they have spread around the major cities around the country (photo 2). The demonstrations against the Decision on the Abolition politicians are organized by the civic initiative ” PROTESTIRAM” with the presence of the party members and supporters of the political party SDSM, political party LEVICA, numerous civic organizations (AJDE, ZASLUZUVAME PODOBRO, SOLIDARNOST, LENKA) and thousands of dissatisfied and angry citizens, marching on the streets and shouting: “No justice, no peace”. The demonstrators are coloring the institutions facades, most of them renovated in the baroques style within the project Skopje 2014, so this movement and the demonstrations on the streets got the name Colorful revolution. Our monitors have noted that the days 13, 14,21 of April, the citizens from the others cities in the country came to Skopje to support the demonstrations, by organized transport in buses (68 buses in total for these days, noticed by the monitors).Other minor expenditures are noted for the sound system, badges, stage and paint. The demonstrations continued in the Skopje and the other cities in Macedonia: Bitola, Tetovo, Gostivar, Ohrid, Resen, Prilep, Kumanovo, Stip, Strumica, Gevgelija, Delchevo, Veles, Stip ,Kavadarci, and Kochani (photo 3). On the other side, GDOM- the citizen movement for defense of Macedonia has organized a counter-protest in Skopje and several cities in Macedonia, with the presence of the supporters of the political party VMRO-DPMNE, supporting the Election date 5th of June, right after the first protest of the civic initiative ” PROTESTIRAM”. The number of buses of the supporters of GDOM from the other cities extent 240 (in total) for the days 13, 14 and 21 of April and other expenditures: sound system, stage, music program and flag. The counter-protests have expanded in the other cities around the country: Bitola, Ohrid, Resen, Prilep, Kumanovo, Strumica, Gevgelija, Veles and Kavadarci.Several employees in the public administration are under pressure to take part on the demonstrations of the civil movement GDOM. This occurs in the working hours by organized transport to the place where these demonstrations are held. On our web site ”Prijavi korupcija” we have recorded cases of intimidation and order of taking part in counter-protest in Skopje and we reacted respectively with a letter to the Public Prosecutor (photo 4). On 22 of April a demonstrations were organized by small Albanian political parties and associations in Skope: The Reform Movement DPA, NDP, Association of Former Political Prisoners and Exiles Albanians of ONA and the Civil Society. They were protesting against the Decision on 5 the interruption of all proceedings against politicians and their supporters belonging to the confronted parties by the President Ivanov. The political party DR DPA organized their members in 15 buses mainly from the northwestern part of the country, starting from Struga up to Kumanovo (photo 5). 4. VMRO-DPMNE The political party VMRO-DPMNE has continued the promotion of the Government projects, equating the Government activities with the party activities. The party members and the president of the party promote the government projects in situ and on the political party web site: new mega-project in the Agriculture for which are foreseen 3 milion euros from the budget (presented by the president of the party Nikola Gruevski); The project of the Ministry of Health: the co-financing of the medical specializations for the doctors, working in the private institutions( presented by the Minister of Health Nikola Todorov); the new projects of the Ministry of Education: the scholarship for the master studies of the Film Institute-The Film Academy in Ohrid and the project: “Proekt za razvoj na veshtini I poddrshka na inovacii”(presented by the deputy minister of education Spiro Ristovski). The project “Makedonija vrabotuva”- of the Employment Agency of the Republic of Macedonia (Forum of UMS of VMRO-DPMNE and the European democratic youth).The President of the political party VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski in the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle presented the new project “Od grad vo selo”.
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