The Republic of North Macedonia's 2020 Parliamentary Elections Handbook www.kas.de Impressum Title The Republic of North Macedonia’s 2020 Parliamentary Elections Handbook Publishers Konrad Adenauer Foundation Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” Skopje Authors Marko Pankovski Aleksandra Jovevska–Gjorgjevikj Sara Janeska Martina Ilievska Simona Mladenovska Coordination Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes Davor Pašoski Translation to English Perica Sardžoski English proofreading Tiina Fahrni Design and Preparation Dejan Kuzmanovski The publication can be downloaded for free at: kas.de/nordmazedonien idscs.org.mk NB The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation or the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” Skopje, but are personal viewpoints of the respective authors. Contents Impressum 1 1. Introduction to the 2020 Parliamentary Elections 6 Preparations for the Snap Parliamentary Elections 13 Recent Amendments to Election Legislation 16 State Election Commission 16 Financing of Political Parties 17 Public Media 19 State Commission for Prevention of Corruption 20 2. The history of parliamentary elections in the Republic of North Macedonia (1990 - 2016) 23 1990 Parliamentary Elections 23 1994 Parliamentary Elections 24 1998 Parliamentary Elections 26 2002 Parliamentary Elections 27 2006 Parliamentary Elections 28 2008 Parliamentary Elections 30 2011 Parliamentary Elections 32 2014 Parliamentary Elections 33 2016 Parliamentary Elections 36 Turnout at the Parliamentary Elections (1990 – 2016) 41 3. The Macedonian electoral system for parliamentary elections 43 Electoral bodies 44 Active and passive electoral right, procedure for submitting candidacies 46 Limitations for current state officials 48 The election campaign 50 The role of the public media 52 Monitoring the elections 55 4. The Electoral Units 57 5. A review of the participants in the 2020 Snap Parliamentary Elections 62 Political parties, coalitions and holders of candidate lists 63 VMRO-DPMNE 63 Holders of candidate lists of VMRO-DPMNE and the coalition “Renewal of Macedonia” 66 Social Democratic Union of Macedonia151 and the coalition “We Can” 69 Holders of candidate lists of SDSM and the coalition “We Can” 71 Democratic Union for Integration 73 Holders of candidate lists of DUI 74 Democratic Party of the Albanians–DPA 76 The Democrats (political party) 77 Political party The Left 77 Coalition of the Alliance for the Albanians and “Alternative” 78 Political party Voice for Macedonia 79 Citizens Democratic Union (GDU) 80 INTEGRA – Macedonian Conservative Party 81 Social Democratic Union 81 United Macedonia 82 MORO–Workers Party 83 Roma People’s Party 83 Your Party 84 6. Electoral archives of the elections in the Republic of North Macedonia since 1990 86 Introduction to the 2020 Parliamentary Elections The Republic of North Macedonia’s 2020 Parliamentary Elections Handbook Introduction to the 2020 Parliamentary Elections The elections scheduled for 15 July 2020 are the ninth parliamentary elections since the Republic of North Macedonia gained independence in 1991, and the fifth snap elections. At its 137th sitting on 16 February 2020, the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia unanimously adopted the decision on its dissolution, with 113 votes in favour and no vote against or sustained. On 17 February, President of the Assembly Talat Xhaferi, in accordance with his constitutional and legal competences, announced that elections would be held on 12 April,1 which were then postponed to 15 July2 due to the situation caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19). These snap parliamentary elections will be implemented in six electoral units (ElU) in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. More precisely, it was decided that voting would not take place in the Diplomatic and Consular Missions (DCM). The submitted candidate lists for MPs in ElU 73 will not be subject to voting since the number of registered voters is smaller than the number of votes with which an MP won a mandate in the last parliamentary elections in 2016. Persons in quarantine, self-isolation or home treatment due to Covid-19 will vote on 13 July. The sick and infirm, as well as all other persons whose voting takes place one day prior to the regular election day according to the Electoral Code, will vote on 14 July. Apart from the additional voting day, the extended voting time until 21h on 15 July is another novelty.4 The political decision to hold snap parliamentary elections in 2020 was made due to the fact that the European Union did not set a date for opening accession negotiations with 1 Decision on the announcement of snap elections to the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. See: official website of the State Election Commission(SEC), www.sec.mk. Accessed 9 March 2020: https://www.sec.mk/ parlamentarni-izbori-2020/?_thumbnail_id=6946/ 2 Conclusion to cease all electoral activities related to the snap electionsto the Assembly of Republic of North Macedonia, scheduled for 12 April 2020, State Election Commission, 22 March 2020. Accessed 17 June 2020: https://drive.google. com/file/d/1_TT5MayIh7nyfUx4hnv-hQxbdrZ0-AQd/view 3 Decision not to carry out elections at the DCR, 2020 . State Election Commission, 17 March 2020. Accessed 7 April 2020: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YL_QqvQ03bXPdyJ9BF9I1BtKw_2cN5Ac/view 4 Legally binding decree on issues related to the elections to the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia on 15 July 2020, “Official Gazette”, 160/2020. 6 The Republic of North Macedonia’s 2020 Parliamentary Elections Handbook the Republic of North Macedonia. In October 2019, one day after the Council of Ministers of the European Union in Luxembourg and the Summit of the Heads of States and Governments in Brussels did not reach an agreement on opening negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that he would convene a leadership meeting and propose snap parliamentary elections.5 Previously, the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE had called for snap parliamentary elections on several occasions. In June 2018, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, called for snap parliamentary elections to be held together with the presidential elections.6 In September 2019, Mickoski confirmed that he still required snap parliamentary elections to be held, and that he would repeat his request at the leadership meetings related to the new Law on Public Prosecution.7 Then, shortly after the EU Summit in October 2019, Mickoski stated that it was a defeat for the government’s policy that the EU had not set a date and pointed out that snap parliamentary elections were the only viable solution.8 The leadership meeting was held on 20 October 2019 at the residence of State President Stevo Pendarovski. The meeting was attended by the presidents of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the Alliance for Albanians, “Alternative”, and the BESA Movement. It was agreed to hold snap parliamentary elections on 12 April 2020, and, in accordance with the Pržino Agreement,9 to install a new technical (interim) government which would take up its work on 3 January 2020. At the meeting, the leaders of the political parties reaffirmed their commitment to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration.10 According to the amendments to the Law on Government introduced before the 2016 elections,11 the opposition is expected to make a proposal with regard to ministers and additional ministers in the caretaker government, i.e. the so-called “Pržino Government”. The law stipulates that the political party in opposition with the highest number of MPs 5 “Zaev: We run for snap elections”, Duetsche Welle, 19 October 2019. Accessed 10 March 2020: https://p.dw.com/ p/3RYux 6 “Mickoski: Snap parliamentary elections together with the presidential elections”, Sitel, 2 June 2018. Accessed 10 March 2020: https://sitel.com.mk/mickoski-predvremeni-izbori-zaedno-so-pretsedatelskite/ 7 “Mickoski: We remain committed to the request for snap elections”, Netpress, 14 September 2019. Accessed 10 March 2020: https://netpress.com.mk/mickoski-ostanuvame-na-bara-eto-za-predvremeni-izbori/?utm_source=daily.mk&utm_ medium=daily.mk/ 8 “Mickoski demands snap parliamentary elections and expects Zaev to resign today”, Sdk.mk, 18 October 2019. Accessed 10 March 2020: https://sdk.mk/index.php/makedonija/mitskoski-bara-predvremeni-izbori-i-ochekuva-zaev- denes-da-si-podnese-ostavka/ 9 For further information on the adoption of the Pržino Agreement and subsequent changes to the election process, see: Republic of Macedonia 2016 Parliamentary Elections Handbook, second supplemented edition. KAS, IDSCS. Accessed 19 March 2020: http://izbornaarhiva.mk/dokumentacija/prirachnici/Belegexemplar_2016_The_Republic_of_ Macedonias_2016_Parliamentary_Elections_Handbook_MKD_version.pdf 10 “Zaev: Snap elections on 12 April”, Mkd.mk, 20 October 2019. Accessed 10 March 2020: https://www.mkd.mk/ makedonija/politika/zaev-na-12-april-2020-predvremeni-izbori?page=2/ 11 “Official Gazette” No. 59/00, 12/03, 55/05, 37/06, 115/07, 19/08, 82/08, 10/10, 51/11, 15/13, 139/14, 196/15 and 142/16. 7 The Republic of North Macedonia’s 2020 Parliamentary Elections Handbook in the Assembly nominate the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, an additional Minister of Finance, an additional Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, and an additional Minister of Information Society and Administration. The opposition, i.e. the opposition party with the largest number of MPs, proposes the Minister of Interior, but consults the two political parties with the largest number of MPs, i.e. the parliamentary majority, about the proposal.12 On 30 December 2019, VMRO-DPMNE submitted the names of the technical ministers and additional deputy ministers. Only the proposal to appoint Dragan Kovački Minister of Interior was disputed, since has a military rank and is a colonel in the Army. According to Article 97 of the Constitution, the defence and the police have to be headed by civilians.