site.btaParties in North Macedonia Sign Code for Fair Elections Ahead of May 8 Parliamentary Vote

Representatives of the parties, contesting the general elections in North Macedonia on May 8 have signed a Code for Fair and Democratic Elections.

Two political parties refused to sign the code.

Speaking to the media, the President of the country's State Election Commission, Aleksandar Dashtevski, said that this is an expression of a will to preserve the integrity of the democratic process and by signing it, a message is sent "of fairness and respect for all rules, laws and regulations, the rule of law and the rule of law in the organisation of elections, a commitment to respect the code of ethics and not to use hate speech in the election campaign."

After the signing, the representatives of the Democrati Party, Jorgo Ognenovski, and the GROM party, Stevco Jakimovski, also spoke to the media and said they refused to sign the document.

"The elections will not be fair and democratic, on the contrary. The elections, as before, will be criminal because 20 years ago a discriminatory Electoral Code was adopted in the parliament, with which the parties that have MPs also have a monopoly, and the other parties are marginalized," Ognenovski said.

Stevco Jakimovski, who is also a presidential candidate and as such did not sign the code for fair and democratic elections, said the reason for his refusal this time is the way parliamentary elections are financed and because "the leaders of lists for parliamentary elections participate in the presidential campaign."

Officially, the campaign for the parliamentary elections, which will be held on May 8, starts on Thursday, but it overlaps with the campaign for the presidential elections, which started on April 4. Jakimovski's reaction also comes because of the presidential campaign rallies organized by VMRO-DPMNE, in which the party's chairman, Hristijan Mickoski, is taking part.

A total of 17 parties and coalitions will take part in the parliamentary elections in North Macedonia, some of them registering lists only in some of the six electoral units into which the country is divided.