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Election observation report | Doc. 11647 | 23 June 2008
Observation of the parliamentary elections in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (1 and 15 June 2008)
Bureau of the Assembly
1. Introduction
1. The Bureau of the Assembly decided, at its meeting
on 18 April 2008 and subject to receipt of an invitation, to set
up an ad hoc committee to observe the parliamentary elections in
“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, scheduled for 1 June
2008, and asked the President to appoint the chairperson of the ad
hoc committee to observe these elections. Following the receipt
of an invitation from the President of the Assembly of “the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, the President appointed me as the
chairman of the ad hoc committee.
2. On 4 October 2004, a co-operation agreement was signed between
the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Commission for Democracy
through Law (Venice Commission). In conformity with Article 15 of
the agreement: “When the Bureau of the Assembly decides to observe
an election in a country in which electoral legislation was previously
examined by the Venice Commission, one of the rapporteurs of the
Venice Commission on this issue may be invited to join the Assembly’s
Election Observation Mission as legal adviser”, the Bureau of the
Assembly invited an expert from the Venice Commission to join the
ad hoc committee as advisor.
3. Based on the proposals by the political groups in the Assembly,
the ad hoc committee was composed as follows:
- Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Head of delegation
- Socialist group (SOC)
- Mr Andreas Gross, Switzerland
- Mr Denis MacShane, United Kingdom
- Group of the European People’s Party (EPP/CD)
- Ms Ingrida Circene, Latvia
- Ms Alma Čolo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Mr Mladen Ivanić, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
- Mr Serhiy Holovaty, Ukraine
- European Democrat Group (EDG)
- Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkey
- Mr Nigel Evans, United Kingdom
- Mr Karol Karski, Poland
- Group of the Unified European Left (UEL)
- Mr Alessandro Rossi, San Marino
- Venice Commission
- Mr Owen Masters, United Kingdom
- Secretariat
- Mr Vladimir Dronov, Head of Secretariat, Interparliamentary Co-operation and Election Observation Unit
- Ms Rachel Morel, Assistant, Political and Legal Affairs Directorate
4. The ad hoc committee worked as part of an International Election
Observation Mission (IEOM), alongside the Election Observation Mission
(EOM) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) and the EOM of the OSCE Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).
5. The ad hoc committee met in Skopje from 30 May to 2 June 2008,
and held meetings with, inter alia,
a representative cross-section of political parties, the Chairman
of the State Election Commission (SEC), the Head of the EOM of the
OSCE/ODIHR and his staff, as well as representatives of civil society
and the mass media.
6. On election day, the ad hoc committee was split into six teams,
which observed the elections in and around about 90 polling stations.
Three teams were deployed in Skopje and the surrounding area and
three teams were deployed in Tetovo, Kriva Palanka and Ohrid.
7. The IEOM concluded that the parliamentary elections in “the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, on 1 June 2008, failed to
meet key international standards, as organised attempts to violently
disrupt the electoral process in parts of the ethnic Albanian areas
made it impossible for voters in many places to freely express their
will. The press release issued after these elections appears in
Appendix I.
2. Political and legal framework en registration of candidates’ lists
8. On 12 April 2008, the parliament voted to dissolve
itself and call early elections on 1 June 2008. The decision was
made after the opposition party – Democratic Union for Integration
(DUI) – stated that new elections were needed to break the stalemate
in the parliament. The move was backed by the ruling parties: the
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation-Democratic Party
for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) and the Democratic Party
of Albanians (DPA). The decision was opposed by other opposition partners,
such as the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as well as some coalition parties
of the former government. Opponents of the move claimed that early
elections would delay the reforms set as benchmarks by the European
Union for the start of accession negotiations.
9. Supporters of the move cited the lack of a qualified majority
in the parliament and the obstruction of legislative work, as well
as challenges in the process of European Union (EU) and North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) integration, and the unresolved issue
of the country’s officially recognised name, as factors necessitating
early elections.
10. In these elections, 120 seats were contested through a system
of proportional representation in six districts (20 seats per district).
11. The Election Code, enacted in 2006, provides the legal framework
for the elections. In addition, several laws were passed recently,
which affect the electoral process.
12. The provisions of the new laws that regulate appeals are not
compatible with the code. Under the code, appeals from decisions
of the SEC are taken to the Supreme Court. The newly adopted legislation
on courts and administrative disputes reassigns jurisdiction over
appeals against the administration of elections to a newly-created
Administrative Court.
13. The Election Code provides that that every third place on
a candidates’ list is to be assigned to a female candidate. Political
parties met this requirement: out of the total of 1 540 candidates,
35% were women.
14. Registration of candidates’ lists was generally inclusive,
with 18 lists totalling 1 540 candidates.
15. One coalition was led by the governing VMRODPMNE and consisted
of 19 parties. A second coalition was led by the SDSM and consisted
of eight parties, who ran under the title of the “Sun – Coalition
for Europe” (SONCE). The two largest ethnic Albanian parties, the
DUI and DPA, ran individual campaigns.
16. On 9 May 2008, the SEC drew lots to establish the position
of candidates on ballot papers.
17. The SEC approved two lists containing candidates who had been
sentenced to prison for more than six months, which contravenes
Article 7 of the Election Code.
3. Voter registration
18. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for updating
the voters’ list, based on information it receives from local authorities.
19. Public inspection and revisions of the voters’ list was carried
out between 22 April and 1 May 2008. Despite an awareness-raising
campaign, only 715 changes were made to the list. The total number
of voters on the list was established at 1 779 116, a 2% increase
over 2006.
4. Election administration
20. The country has a three-tiered election administration
headed by the SEC, with 84 municipal election commissions (MECs)
and an Election Board (EB) for each of the 2 976 polling stations
(PS).
21. The SEC operated in a generally transparent and efficient
manner and was able to meet almost all deadlines.
22. MECs only began to meet two weeks before election day, due
mostly to the fact that their members were not released from their
civil service duties prior to this.
23. A number of EB members in areas of high political tension
asked to be excused ahead of the elections for fear of election-day
violence. In Tetovo, for instance, 50 individuals, including 10
EB presidents asked to be excused, citing “health problems”.
24. The SEC ran a voter education campaign in the national media
focusing on voter mobilisation, information on how to vote and warnings
not to commit electoral violations. In addition, two national NGOs
ran a voter education campaign on television.
5. The media environment
25. During the campaign, the media provided voters with
a wide range of political views, giving them the opportunity to
form educated opinions on the political positions of stakeholders.
26. The Broadcasting Council monitored electronic media in the
context of their compliance with existing legislation. In addition,
the Council adopted specific guidelines for equitable access to
media coverage for political parties during the campaign. However,
the parliament did not adopt those guidelines before its dissolution
and therefore the document was not legally binding. As a result,
the Council’s recommendations concerning imbalances in media coverage
could not be enforced and no sanctions could be taken with regard to
the numerous infractions identified by the Council.
6. Complaints and appeals
27. Candidates had only limited access to effective remedies
and recourse to appeal against alleged violations prior to the election
day that were due to legislative gaps and inconsistencies, as well
as to the narrow interpretation of the complaints and appeals bodies,
including the SEC. Judges of the primary and appeals courts are
still largely unfamiliar with the role they are to play with regard
to campaign violations, while the Supreme Court confined the appeals
it accepted against the election administration to those that are
explicitly described in the code.
28. In the case of an appeal by the SDSM-led coalition against
the registration of the candidates’ list of the Social Democratic
Party of Macedonia (SDPM), which included lead candidates with names
very similar to those of the leading SDSM candidates, the Supreme
Court rejected the appeal on the grounds that the Election Code
does not explicitly provide for such an appeal. As a result, the
names of the candidates in question remained on ballot papers.
7. The campaign
29. The campaign period lasted twenty days, ending on
30 May 2008, when the twenty-four-hour period of campaign silence
began. While the VMRO-DPMNE coalition, the Sun – Coalition for Europe,
the DPA and the DUI organised very active and visible campaigns,
the other 14 candidates kept a low profile during this period.
30. Campaign rhetoric was at times harsh, with personal attacks
and reciprocal accusations peaking towards the end of the campaign
period.
31. High-visibility advertising of government policies before
the start of the official campaign period gave rise to public criticism.
The advertisements were discontinued on 16 May 2008. At the same
time, while government financed political advertisements ended,
government programmes such as free medical check-ups in public places
and the opening of rural health care centres continued unabated.
The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption qualifies
this as electoral bribery.
32. On the day before election day, posters appeared in Skopje
which appeared to try to confuse voters. They called on voters to
vote for the SDPM – the name being reminiscent of the leading opposition
party SDSM – and the name of the “leader” of that entity was almost
identical to the name of the SDSM leader. Furthermore, the SDPM
posters featured the ballot paper number that had been assigned
to the SDSM. The SEC publicly condemned this as an attempt to “manipulate
voters”. In addition, the putting up of these posters on the eve
of the election was timed in such a way that any reaction by the
public would fall within the campaign silence period, thereby making
a public reaction impossible.
33. The campaign period was marred by intimidation and violence
in areas inhabited by ethnic Albanians.
34. While all candidates signed a code of conduct committing them
to respect the democratic conduct of elections, there were serious,
violent incidents in the north and west of the country, where ethnic
Albanians are predominant, not only in the run up to the elections,
but also on election day. This created tensions and resulted in
the intimidation of both voters and election administrators.
35. The police were unable to prevent violence in ethnic Albanian
areas. Between 11 and 26 May 2008, the Ministry of the Interior
received information about attacks on 14 party headquarters and
two municipal branch offices (the DUI suffered 10 attacks, the DPA
suffered two, VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM one each). The police response
to campaign-related violence was clearly inadequate.
36. In addition to the officially recorded violent incidents,
the IEOM received numerous reports about many more incidents, some
relating to truckloads of armed men driving through villages at
night and Kosovo Albanians illegally crossing the border to exacerbate
security problems.
8. Election day
37. On election day, violence, including the use of firearms,
was widely reported in municipalities in the north and west of the
country, areas with a predominantly ethnic Albanian community. One
person was killed and several were injured. Two polling stations
in Gostivar had to be closed after a group of armed persons overpowered
the police and election administrators and stole the ballot boxes.
Voting was also closed in Čučer-Sandevo after approximately 30 persons
entered the polling station, intimidated EB members and stole election
materials. In two unrelated incidents, IEOM observers, as well as
two SEC members, were expelled from polling stations by the police.
38. By contrast, voting in areas with a predominantly ethnic Macedonian
community was mostly calm and orderly.
39. According to the IEOM statistics, while the opening of PSs
was assessed in generally positive terms, the voting itself was
assessed as bad or very bad in 8% of the PSs observed. This assessment
was worse in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas, where the figures
reached 22%.
40. Although voting was conducted in a mainly calm atmosphere,
tensions and unrest were recorded in 4% of PSs visited nationwide,
with this figure reaching 12% in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas.
41. Procedural errors were recorded throughout the country, with
family voting reaching 36% in predominantly Albanian areas (19%
nationwide).
42. The vote count was assessed as bad or very bad in 15% of PSs
visited (32% in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas).
43. IEOM observers monitored tabulation in 71 out of the 84 MECs.
The tabulation was assessed as good or very good in all but two
MECs. Overall, tabulation was orderly and transparent. The only
report of a deliberate falsification of results came from the Tetovo
MEC.
44. The SEC announced that voter turnout was 58%. Of the 2 741
PS results tabulated on the SEC database, 75 showed abnormally high
turnout figures. Two polling stations in the predominantly Albanian municipality
of Poroj, for instance, showed voter turnout figures of 99% and
100%, with almost all votes cast for the DPA.
45. The SEC announced that it would cancel the results in 22 PSs.
The prime minister announced that voting would be re-run in areas
affected by violent incidents.
46. As chair of the ad hoc committee, I observed the rerun that
took place on 15 June 2008, as a member of an IEOM with the OSCE
PA and OSCE/ODIHR.
9. The re-run (15 June 2008)
47. After violent incidents on 1 June 2008, which included
intimidation, use of firearms, violence and ballot box stuffing
and which resulted in one person being killed and more than 10 others
injured, the authorities of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
decided to annul the elections in 183 polling stations in predominantly
ethnic Albanian areas and to organise a re-run scheduled for 15
June 2008.
48. Given its importance, the President of the Assembly requested
the ad hoc committee to observe the re-run of the election on 15
June 2008. Regrettably, I was the only member of the ad hoc committee
available to observe this re-run. I worked as part of an IEOM, alongside
the EOM of the OSCE PA and the EOM of OSCE/ODIHR.
49. I worked in Skopje from 13 to 16 June 2008 and held meetings
with the representatives of the two main Albanian political parties,
the DPA and DUI, as well as the ruling VMRO-DPNME party, the Chairman
of the SEC, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Interior,
as well as the Head of the EOM of the OSCE/ODIHR and his staff.
50. On election day, I observed the elections in the areas with
a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, inter
alia, in Aračinovo, Cair and Gostivar, where the most
violent incidents had taken place on 1 June 2008. I visited more
than 15 polling stations and also observed the opening and counting
procedure after the polling stations had closed.
51. The IEOM concluded that: “Significant improvements in security
for the re-run elections enabled most people to freely cast their
vote, but this does not alter the assessment that while well administered,
certain key OSCE and Council of Europe commitments were not met
in the overall parliamentary election process”. The press releases
issued after the re-run of the parliamentary elections appear in
Appendix II.
52. At the Ministry of the Interior I was informed that some 164
criminal charges had been brought against perpetrators of the 1
June election day violations, but that less than 25 people had been
taken into custody. International observers reported cases where
some people responsible for election offences on 1 June were seen
in the area of polling stations on 15 June.
53. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 21 police officials
from predominantly ethnic Albanian areas were suspended from their
duties due to their involvement in the election irregularities of
1 June.
54. In this connection, I expressed my concern about the quality
of policing in some areas. While recognising the progress made by
the authorities in implementing the Ohrid Framework (Peace) Agreement,
and in increasing the numbers of ethnic Albanians serving in the
police force, I believe it is perhaps timely to examine not only
the numbers of Albanians serving in the police force, but also the
quality of the training received by all those currently serving
in the police.
55. The SEC’s work in addressing the 1 June election day complaints
was effective, open and transparent. The SEC reviewed complaints
about election irregularities and violence in 376 polling stations
and the results of the vote in 197 polling stations were cancelled.
Furthermore, the SEC members did not hesitate to make their own
observations about irregularities.
56. Since 1 June, more than 90 complaints have been submitted
to the Supreme Court regarding the decisions of the SEC on the cancellation
of the results in numerous polling stations. The opposition DUI
party submitted four complaints, the governing coalition member,
the DPA, submitted 89 complaints. The Supreme Court reversed 11
SEC decisions, contending that it did not find irregularities, even
in those dubious cases where voter turnout exceeded 95%.
57. The SEC also dismissed six presidents of MECs in Brvenica,
Tetovo, Bogovinje, Gostivar, Lipkovo and Saraj, where there had
been the greatest number of problems on 1 June. This move caused
some confusion in the preparations for the re-run. In addition,
the list of the polling stations in which the re-runs were to be
held was only finalised on 13 June.
58. During the period prior to the re-run, the leaders of the
two main Albanian political parties regrettably used harsh rhetoric
in their campaigning.
59. Election day was generally calm and non-violent. There were
no cases of use of weapons or major irregularities. However, there
were indications of procedural errors, including five cases of ballot
box stuffing and a massive presence of unauthorised persons in the
polling stations. The results of the voting were cancelled in four
polling stations due to irregularities.
60. The police presence near to the 187 polling stations was much
more significant than on 1 June and proved to be effective in preventing
violent incidents. In this connection, I wish to stress that the
secure and generally calm atmosphere on the day of re-run, just
two weeks after the violent incidents and electoral irregularities
of 1 June, demonstrate that the tragic events of 1 June could have
been avoided.
61. In a multi-ethnic society, the authorities, as well as the
political stakeholders, have an important responsibility to ensure
genuine conditions for the free expression of the will of citizens,
regardless of their different ethnic origin, throughout the territory
of the country.
62. The total number of eligible voters for the re-run on 15 June
2008 was 161 668 and the turnout was 48.90%. The opposition DUI
party obtained 38 642 votes, whereas the governing coalition member,
the DPA, obtained 32 133 votes. According to the SEC, the preliminary
cumulative results were: VMRO-DPNME – 63 seats; Sun – Coalition
for Europe (SONCE) – 27 seats; DUI – 18 seats; DPA – 11 seats and
the Party for European Future (PEI) – one seat.
63. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in the
framework of its monitoring procedures, should closely follow the
further development of the situation after the elections and remain
ready to assist the country in its continuing democratic development.
10. Conclusions and recommendations
64. Key international standards were not met in the 1
June 2008 parliamentary elections in “the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia”.
65. While, technically, the elections were well organised in the
greater part of the country, a sizeable proportion of the electorate
was deprived of the right to express its will freely due to the
irresponsible, violent and destructive actions of activists from
the two major Albanian parties.
66. The security chaos witnessed in some parts of the country
on election day undermined the declared intention of the authorities
to conduct fair elections.
67. The authorities of the country should look into the need to
harmonise the Election Code with related legislation passed at a
later date.
68. In the future, political stakeholders’ access to effective
remedies for alleged violations should be improved, not least through
an education campaign aimed at those court officials involved in
elections.
69. A detailed audit of the voters’ list should be conducted in
time for future elections.
70. In the future, the parliament should make sure that guidelines
for broadcasting during the campaign are passed in a timely manner
so as to enable the Broadcasting Council to effectively control
media behaviour during campaign periods.
71. All instances of violence and electoral fraud should be thoroughly
investigated and perpetrators should be brought to justice and sanctioned.
72. Political stakeholders should abandon petty politicking, let
alone violence, and engage in a meaningful dialogue in the greater
interests of the stability of the country.
73. Many problems revealed in the run-up to the election and on
election day are of a systemic nature, rather than merely a matter
of imperfections in electoral administration and electoral legislation.
In this connection, the Bureau of the Assembly may wish to consider
dispatching a post-electoral mission to the country, as provided
for in the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (Observation of Elections
by the Parliamentary Assembly, Section C, paragraph vi).
Appendix 
(open)Appendix 1
Violence in parts of the country tarnishes parliamentary elections, observers in Skopje say(Skopje, 2 June 2008)
Appendix 2
International Election Observation Mission – Re-run of early parliamentary elections, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (Skopje, 15 June 2008)
Appendix 3
Re-runs held free of violence, but overall process falls short of some key commitments, say observers in Skopje (Skopje, 16 June 2008)