Doc. 8257

3 November 1998

Observation of parliamentary elections in "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
(15-19 October 1998)

Report 1

Ad hoc Committee of the Bureau for the observation of parliamentary elections in "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

Rapporteur: Mr Henning Gjellerod, Denmark, Socialist Group

I.       INTRODUCTION

1.        The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia joined the Council of Europe on 9 November 1995. These parliamentary elections are the second since the country gained independence in 1991, there having been parliamentary and presidential elections in October 1994. The most recent elections were the local elections in November 1996.

2.        A monitoring procedure of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's honouring of obligations and commitments accepted on admission to the Council was opened in July 1996 and is still in progress.

3.        At its meeting on 26 June 1998 the Bureau of the Assembly decided to set up an Ad Hoc Committee to observe the parliamentary elections in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

4.        In a letter dated 20 August 1998 the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr Tito Petkovski, informed the President of the Parliamentary Assembly that parliamentary elections would be held on 18 October 1998.

5.        On the basis of proposals from the political groups, the Bureau set up the following Ad Hoc Committee2:

Socialist Group

Mr Jaume BARTUMEU CASSANY       (Andorra)

Ms Snejzana BIGA FRIGANOVIC       (Croatia)

Mr Henning GJELLEROD       (Denmark)

Group of the European People's Party

Mr Walter SCHWIMMER       (Austria)

Mr Latchezar TOSHEV       (Bulgaria)

Substitute: Mr Dumeni COLUMBERG       (Switzerland)

European Democratic Group

Mr Adam SLOMKA       (Poland)

Mr Sükrü YÜRÜR       (Turkey)

Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group

Mr Jan Dirk BLAAUW       (Netherlands)

Mr Roman JAKIC       (Slovenia)

Group of the United European Left

Mr Oleksiy BABURIN       (Ukraine)

6.        Ms Hanneke GELDERBLOM-LANKHOUT joined the Ad Hoc Committee as rapporteur for the Monitoring Committee3.

7.        At its meeting on 16 October 1998 the Ad Hoc Committee appointed Mr Gjellerod Chair and rapporteur and Ms Gelderblom-Lankhout vice-Chair 4.

8.        Other institutions – the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, national parliaments, non-governmental organisations, etc. - likewise decided to take part in observing the elections. The European Parliament decided not to send an observer delegation.

9.        Preparations for the election-observing assignment were made in close co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which was in charge of the logistical arrangements for observing the elections, and the Macedonian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

10.        A special joint programme of meetings for the two - Council of Europe and OSCE – parliamentary delegations was prepared. It included meetings with the President of the Assembly, the Chair of the State Election Commission, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Internal Affairs, the Minister of Justice, representatives of the main government and opposition parties, representatives of UNPREDEP and the head of the OSCE mission in Skopje5. The Ad Hoc Committee also had a discussion with the Macedonian parliamentary delegation.

11.        The delegation of Parliamentary Assembly observers cannot but thank the ODIHR for its most efficient and unfailing assistance and convey its sincere gratitude to the host country's authorities, who met all their requests for meetings.

II.       THE ELECTORAL CONTEXT

12.        Macedonia has a population of two million. The official figures in the 1994 census show an Albanian ethnic minority of 443,000 (23% of the total national population), essentially in Skopje and the west of the country. In addition there are Turkish, Roma, Serbian and Vlach ethnic minorities, each represented by a political party.

a.       The political context

13.        The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia has 120 seats. Members are elected for a four-year term.

14.        The 1994 parliamentary elections were won by a coalition composed of the SDSM and the SPM, which had been in power ever since independence. The second round of those elections was boycotted by the VRMO and the Democratic Party (DP), the main opposition parties.

15.        The composition of the Assembly preceding the present elections was:

-       SDSM (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia): 59 seats

-       LDP (Liberal Democratic Party): 29 seats

-       PDP (Party for Democratic Prosperity): 11 seats

-       SPM (Socialist Party of Macedonia): 7 seats

-       PDPA (Party for Democratic Prosperity of Albanians): 5 seats

-       PCER (Roma Party): 2 seats

-       NDP (National Democratic Party): 2 seats

-       DP (Democratic Party): 1 seat

-       DPT or PDA-IP (Democratic Party of Turks – Islamic Way): 1 seat

-       Independent: 3 seats.

16.        The present government resulting from those elections is headed by Mr Branko Crvenkovski and consists in a coalition of the SDSM, SPM and PDP (the moderate Albanian party). It has a comfortable majority.

b.       The new Election Act

17.        Electoral law was totally altered by a June 1998 Act on election of members of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and two further Acts dealing respectively with electoral districts and electors' identity documents. The present elections were organised under these three Acts. The Assembly adopted the new legislation by a large majority and there was quasi-consensus on it among parties represented, who regarded it as a significant step forward from the previous electoral legislation. In addition the new Election Act had the benefit of expert Council of Europe legal assessment.

18.        Constituencies were drawn to represent an average of 18 000 voters. However several opposition parties challenged the resultant map of constituencies, arguing that it favours the parties in power.

19.        The elections are based on universal, direct, equal, secret suffrage with a mixed system of seat allocation6: 85 seats are allocated by uninominal double-ballot majority voting (ie there are 85 constituencies); 35 seats are allocated under a proportional-representation list system, with remaining seats allocated by the D'Hondt system.

20.        Voters thus vote twice, on two separate ballot papers: once for an individual candidate, and the second time for a political party, by putting a circle around the appropriate number.

21.        In the list election, only party lists achieving a minimum of 5% of the vote are allowed to take part in the count. The small parties, in particular those representing ethnic minorities, have expressed disapproval of this system, which puts them at a plain disadvantage.

22.        In the majority election, candidates receiving a majority of the votes cast and one-third of registered voters are elected in the first round. In constituencies where the required majority is not achieved, there is a second ballot 14 days later. Only the two candidates with the largest number of votes can take part in the second round.

23.        All citizens of the Republic of Macedonia aged 18 or over are entitled to vote or stand. According to the State Election Commission there are 1,572,976 registered voters.

24.        Voters must be entered in the electoral registers; to vote, they must have their identity card or passport and their voting card with them. No-one can vote without a voting card.

25.        The Election Act also provided for media coverage, guaranteeing political parties equal access to the media.

26.        The bodies in charge of electoral operations are as follows. The State Election Commission is responsible for checking lists of candidates, drawing up lists of voters, organising logistical aspects (ballot papers, ballot boxes, etc), and publishing the results. It has eight members and a Chair appointed by Parliament (the Chair and two of the members are Supreme Court judges; three are appointed by the political parties in power, and three by the opposition parties).

27.        Several parties naturally challenged the commission's composition, because the ruling parties were over-represented, even though they recognised it was an improvement on the past.

28.        The District Election Commissions (there are 85 DECs) are composed of a Chair and four members appointed by the State Election Commission on proposals from the political parties. The 2,073 Polling Election Boards, which supervise operations in the individual polling stations and give the results of the ballot, are likewise composed of a Chair and four members, appointed by the DECs.

c.       The election campaign

29.        Under the Election Act, the campaign starts 40 days before the ballot and ends 24 hours before the start of the poll.

30.        17 political parties put forward lists for election by proportional representation (there was also an independent list). 29 political parties and coalitions put forward individual candidates in the 85 constituencies (majority ballot). In all the State Election Commission officially registered 1,200 candidates.

31.        Three major pre-election coalitions were set up:

-       the outgoing government coalition: SDSM – SPM;

-       the opposition coalition: VMRO DPMNE - DA;

-       the coalition of Albanian parties – PDP and PDPA-NDP (this was the first time the Albanian community had contested elections with a united front7;

the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was in a decisive position.

32.        By a court decision, the PDPA-NDP Albanian political party was not allowed by the State Election Committee to contest the election under its new name, the DPA (Democratic Party of Albanians – or PDSH), and had to campaign under its pre-July 1997 name.

33.        Observers agreed that, importantly, the campaign went off calmly; there were no serious incidents. None of the parties reported having been subjected to intimidation or threats during meetings.

34.        Unofficially, however, some opposition candidates and leaders referred to the substantial campaign funding enjoyed by the party in power and criticised the attitude of the media.

35.        The campaign by the main political parties essentially highlighted internal political issues, in particular economic reform, fight against unemployment (Macedonia has an overall unemployment rate of min. 30%), encouragement of foreign investment, social reform, co-operation with neighbouring countries, closer relations with the European Union and NATO, etc.

36.        Media coverage of the campaign was "massive". None of the parties complained of imbalance or systematic discrimination. The rules on television time and freedom of the press would seem to have been complied with. Nonetheless this is in no way a general appraisal of media freedom in the country: very noticeably, most of the media – and notably the three national television channels – are government-controlled and all the newspapers are reliant on the national printing works, Nova Makedonia Printing.

III.       OBSERVATION OF THE ELECTIONS

37.        There is a common agreement among the parliamentary delegation of observers to state that the elections were well organised and well conducted in accordance with Council of Europe standards. They were also better – and much more – observed than the 1994 previous elections.

38.        The Parliamentary Assembly observers were divided into five groups8 and deployed to several areas – essentially Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar and Ohrid (ie the constituencies where there has traditionally been some tension on account of a large Albanian ethnic minority). They attended the opening of the polling stations and the count.

39.        The 2,000 or so polling stations opened on Sunday 18 October at 7am and closed at 7pm. Career military and national servicemen voted in their barracks on the Saturday. A few cases of double voting by army personnel (on the Saturday in barracks, and on the Sunday at their home polling station) were reported but they were so few that they cannot have had any real effect on the results.

40.        The Ad Hoc Committee wishes to make some comments about the actual voting arrangements and the need to ensure confidentiality. Confidentiality is not adequately guaranteed when the paper used for ballot papers is very thin, and the voters’ choice can be read from the back-side. Similarly, the ballot boxes are transparent and the ballot papers are merely folded (not slipped into envelopes) before being put in them. However, on the other hand, the transparency of the ballot boxes is also a guarantee against other possible types of fraud. Finally, ballot papers are numbered in strict serial order to avoid their falsification. Nevertheless, as the voter is issued a ballot paper in the order of his or her arrival, members of the electoral board or observers could be in a position to find out for whom the voter cast his or her ballot, and thus violate the secrecy of vote.

41.        In general the electoral operations were properly organised. The Polling Election Boards showed great professionalism. Political parties were allowed to have their own observers at each polling station and took full advantage of the opportunity. The VRMO, however, said it had not been possible for it to send observers to one or two constituencies, from which it had been "driven away". The parliamentary observers noted very little tension at polling stations.

42.        The counting was likewise conducted calmly, efficiently and professionally and as required by the Election Act. Admittedly the large number of local observers from political parties at the voting stations in itself guaranteed transparency and legality, each party keeping a close eye on the others.

43.        The observers did, however, note one or two irregularities, particularly with regard to the very widespread practice of family voting, especially in the west of the country, where the Albanian minority is dominant: in several constituencies in the Tetovo and Gostivar areas, as many as 80% to 90% of women did not vote in person, their votes being cast for them by a husband, father or brother.

44.        Quite apart from possible cultural explanations, it should be pointed out that the ballot papers were in Macedonian (Cyrillic script) only, which is neither spoken nor read by many Macedonian Albanians. Many women are illiterate and speak only Albanian. It was thus impossible for them to exercise their voting rights properly.

45.        However, the main obstacle to perfect conduct of the elections was undoubtedly the documents voters needed in order to vote: in a departure from the 1994 election arrangements, voters who had the necessary documents (their identity card or passport and a voting card) but who were not on the electoral lists were not allowed to vote. People who were properly recorded in the electoral lists but did not have their voting card were not allowed to vote either.

46.        Under the Election Act, no-one is allowed to vote without presenting a voting card. Yet the Ministry of Justice itself admits that 141,568 cards were not distributed in time. Thus almost 10% of the electorate was not able to vote. Indeed, on 15 October 1998, three days before the ballot, 1,431,408 voting cards had only been delivered to voters' homes. The Ministry claims that the majority of these undistributed cards were for persons currently residing abroad, or having changed address.

47.        The authorities have stated that it was possible to obtain the cards up to the very day of the election. The teams who went to Gostivar and Tetovo saw for themselves the scale of the problem. At some polling stations up to 40% of registered voters were unable to vote for lack of their card.9

48.        Several village mayors in the northern Tetovo area expressed "doubts" to us about the "consistency" of the electoral lists. These fraud allegations – electoral lists established in June 1998 (and on the basis of which voting cards were issued) were allegedly different from those delivered to the polling stations in October – are a second serious cause for concern to the delegation. 10

49.        Lastly, another problem, undoubtedly linked to the first one, is the map of constituencies. Some constituencies in the west of the country and in the area of Kumanovo were gerrymandered with the unavowed aim – but one that was very clear on the ground – of damaging candidates of the Albanian ethnic minority in mixed areas where Albanians were in the majority or so that several Macedonian areas or several Albanian areas were combined into a constituency.

51.        The VRMO DPMNE raised a complaint concerning the interpretation of Article 88 of the Law on the Election of Members of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, which is not clear on the majority required for election in the first round. Consequently, it asserted that candidates having reached a (simple) majority of votes (and 1/3 of registered voters) in the first round should be declared elected.

52.        Lastly, the election results under the majority system were officially declared quite late, four days after the elections took place, which could have contributed to the tensions between the government and the opposition.

IV.       THE FIRST-ROUND RESULTS

53.        After the first round, 45% of seats have been allocated (72.88% turnout): 35 seats under the proportional arrangement and 22 of the 85 seats to be filled by majority election11.

54.        The electoral coalition of the VMRO DPMNE-DA opposition parties took 37.7% of the vote and won 21 seats in the first round (15 seats under the proportional system and six under the majority system), and thus were poised for victory in the second round. The VMRO and DA leaderships were in fact claiming victory by the Monday.        The coalition of government parties (SDSM-SPM) won 14 seats (ten seats under proportional representation, four under the majority system) with 28.5% of the vote.

55.        However the most significant result is the score achieved by the Albanian coalition (PDP-PDPA), which, with 20% of the vote, won 20 seats in the first round (eight under the proportional arrangement and, more especially, 12 under majority voting), giving shape to its objective to exert a decisive influence in Macedonian political life.

56.        Lastly, it must be pointed out that the 5% minimum for representation had a decided effect: only five political parties or coalitions exceeded it: the Socialist Party and various parties representing ethnic minorities did not, and will consequently not have any representation.

57.        It is likely that, after the second round, the VMRO DPMNE-DA will require the support of a third party to achieve a majority in the Assembly. 12

V.       CONCLUSIONS

58.        At this stage – the second round just took place on 1 November – it is premature to draw any conclusions about the conduct of the elections or the new political and institutional landscape it will produce.

59.        The statement which the Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee gave in Skopje on 19 October and the joint declaration of the international election observation mission, given the same day, are reproduced in Appendices 1 and 2. They report that the elections were conducted satisfactorily, in accordance with OSCE and Council of Europe standards, while expressing some reservations about the electoral lists and the distribution of voting cards. There is nevertheless a consensus among the observer delegations that the first round of the elections represent a significant improvement on the 1994 elections.

60.        Observers stressed the progress since the previous elections. The electoral campaign and the ballot itself were conducted calmly and in compliance with the Election Act.

61.        When we met party representatives, no serious charge of unfairness was levelled at the elections other than those mentioned above.

A P P E N D I X 1

Statement issued by the parliamentary delegation of the Council of Europe

after the first round of voting

Council of Europe Parliamentary Observers welcome a greatly improved election in "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

 

SKOPJE, 19.10.98 – A delegation from the COUNCIL OF EUROPE Parliamentary Assembly, led by Henning GJELLEROD (Denmark, SOC), observed the first round of voting in the Macedonian parliamentary elections.

Delegation leader Mr Gjellerod issued the following 8-point statement :

"1. We have taken part in the preparation of the technical appraisal of the OSCE election observation. We welcome and endorse the preliminary statement.

2. The election has taken place in the shadow of the Kosovo crisis. The threat of a NATO air strike in a neighbouring country and the possibility of a mass influx of Kosovar Albanians in need of humanitarian aid have been faced with dignity and realism by the government, by the political parties and the people. The country is also experiencing an unemployment crisis(over 30%).

3. The election has nonetheless taken place in a generally orderly manner and within a satisfactory legal framework. The voting of the election laws by a large cross-party majority and their generally effective implementation by the authorities have consolidated democracy in the country.

4. However, there have been administrative problems. The most serious were with voter lists and with distribution of voting cards. Since without voting cards it was impossible to vote, it is not acceptable that so many cards were not distributed in time, that people had to wait for up to four hours in order to obtain them, and that many were not able to obtain them. There should be time to remedy this for the second round of voting, which will also be internationally observed.

5. There were also other kinds of irregularities (secrecy, multiple voting, …) but these were either localised or more characteristic of the western region.

6. On the whole, there is reason to hope that the outcome of this first round of voting broadly represents the freely-expressed will of the Macedonian people. A stable government is now required – after the second round of voting in two weeks' time – with the participation of the political leaders of the ethnic Albanian minority.

7. We can already say that this election shows the commitment of the Macedonian authorities to an improved electoral process and the commitment of the people to democracy.

8. We will monitor post-election developments and report to the Parliamentary Assembly with recommendations for further improvement and for the country’s closer integration with European and Atlantic institutions."

The delegation is composed to give a balanced reflection of the main political forces in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. It included :

- Henning Gjellerod (Delegation Chairman, Denmark, Socialist)

- Hanneke Gelderblom Lankhout (Delegation Vice-Chairperson, Netherlands, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group)

- Jaume Bartumeu Cassany (Andorra, Socialist)

- Snejzana Biga Friganovic (Croatia, Socialist)

- Dumeni Columberg (Switzerland, European People's Party)

- Adam Slomka (Poland, European Democratic Group)

- Lachezar Toshev (Bulgaria, European People's Party)

- Sükrü Yürür (Turkey, European Democratic Group).

Preliminary talks were held beforehand with the leaders of the political parties, with ministers of the outgoing government, with the State Election Committee and with the diplomatic community including the OSCE and the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), which operates on the Republic's northern and western borders.

Election observation is part of the process of monitoring a member state's respect of statutory obligations and commitments made on joining the Council of Europe. "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" joined the Council of Europe on 9 November 1995.

A P P E N D I X 2

Preliminary joint statement of the international election observation mission

after the first round of voting

(Skopje, 19 October 1998)

A P P E N D I X 3

Results of the first round of voting 13

A       National Party Lists - Proportional Election (35 seats)

Party

Vote Total

% Vote

Seats

VMRO-DPMNE

312,627

c. 27%

11

SDSM

279,795

c. 24%

10

PDP/PDPA-NDP

214,360

c. 20%

8

DA

119,351

c. 11%

4

LDP

77, 788

c. 7%

2

5% Threshold

      

SPM + Movement

52,284

c. 4,5%

-

B. Single Member Districts - Majority Election (85 seats) - 22 completed districts

Party

Number of Seats

PDP

9

VMRO-DPMNE + DA

6

PDPA-NDP

3

SDSM

3

SPM

1

Unofficial Overview Election Results

Party/

Coalition

District

Seats

Prop.

Seats

Total

Leads

VMRO+ DA

6

15

21

39

SDSM

3

10

13

15

PDP +

PDPA-NDP

12 (9/3)

8 (5/3)

20 (14/6)

4 (1/3)

LDP

-

2

2

3

SPM

1

-

1

1

Independent

      

1

A P P E N D I X 4

PROGRAMME

For the visit of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Observation of Parliamentary Elections in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

(15 – 19 October 1998)

Thursday 15 October 1998

p.m.       arrival in Skopje: check-in at hotel (Hotel Continental)

17.00       meeting of the Committee (Hotel Continental)

Friday 16 October 1998

08.30       briefing of observers by OSCE/ODIHR        (Hotel Continental)

- 13.30        [political background, electoral system, security, logistics, observation methodology]

15.00        Mr Tito Petkovski, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia

       (Hall 2 of the Assembly)

15.45       Mr Blagoj Handziski, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hall 2 of the Assembly)

16.30 Mr Tomislav Chokrevski, Minister for Internal Affairs (Hall 2 of the Assembly)

17.15       Mr Gjorgi Spasov, Minister for Justice (Hall 2 of the Assembly)

18.00       Mrs Liljana Ristova, President of the State Electoral Committee

       (Hall 2 of the Assembly)

18.45 reception by the President of the State Electoral Committee, Mrs Liljana Ristova (Banquet Hall of the Assembly)

20.00       reception hosted by Mr Fazli Keşmir, Ambassador of the Turkish Republic in Skopje

Saturday 17 October 1998

07.45       joint working breakfast with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation

8.30 meetings with political parties (Hotel Continental):

12.15 UNPREDEP – United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (Hotel Continental)

13.00       working lunch with the Macedonian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe (Chairman: Mr Nikola Popovski)

p.m.       departure of some observer teams to areas of deployment

17.00       meeting with Greek chairmanship-in-office of the Council of Europe

- 18.00              Ambassador Alexandros Mallias

Sunday 18 October 1998

Monday 19 October 1998

08.00        working breakfast

09.00       exchange of views with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation

10.00       participation in the de-briefing of observers by OSCE/ODIHR

13.30       press conference

1 Publication of this report was authorised by the Bureau at its meeting of 3 November 1998.

N.B. The use in the text of the term “Macedonia” is for descriptive purposes and the convenience of the reader and does not prejudge the position of the Assembly on the question of the name of the state.

2 Mr Blaauw, Mr Jakic and Mr Baburin were unable to take part in the mission; Mr Schwimmer stood down, with apologies, and was replaced by Mr Columberg.

3 Mr Dumitrescu, likewise rapporteur for the Monitoring Committee, was unable to take part.

4 Mr John Hartland, Head of Division, Ms Valérie Clamer, Administrative Officer in the Office of the Clerk, and Ms Cathie Burton, Press Officer, Council of Europe Press Relations Service, accompanied the delegation.

5 Full details of the programme will be found in Appendix 4.

6 Previously the system was a uninominal double-ballot majority one.

7 The PDP has been a member of the government coalition since 1994.

8 Mr Gjellerod and Ms Biga Friganovic at Ohrid, Ms Gelderblom and Ms Clamer at Tetovo, Mr Bartumeu Cassany and Mr Columberg at Gostivar, Mr Toshev and Mr Yürür at Brevnica, Ms Burton and Mr Slomka at Arachinovo and Skopje.

9 Two teams visited townhalls where voters could obtain their cards on election day. Several dozen people had been waiting for more than three hours, unable to obtain their cards on account of officials' clear unco-operativeness. Hundreds of discouraged people decided against waiting and went away cardless. On the Sunday evening at 6pm, one hour before the close of polling stations, we saw 22 cardboard boxes at Tetovo, each containing 500 undistributed cards. At Gostivar some ten cardboard boxes were still to be seen.

10 It is alleged that, on average, 10% of electors lawfully recorded in constituencies in June – and sometimes even whole families – "disappeared" from the electoral registers. Observers saw the truth of the allegations on the ground – many voters who had lived in their villages for years had received their voting card, yet when they went to the polling station they found their names were not on the lists.

11 See Appendix 3.

12 After the second round of voting which took place on 1st November, according to unofficial (provisional) results, the VMRO-DPMNE DA coalition won the elections, with 59 seats; the SDSM would win 29 seats, the Albanian coalition 25, LDP 4, SPM 2, the Rom Party 1 seat.

13 As given by the State Election Committee on 21 October.