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MOST: Municipalities Violate Election Law

Dejan Georgievski

24 May 2006

The municipalities in Macedonia and the City of Skopje violate the electoral legislation, accused MOST Civic Association at the press conference held earlier today. The municipal authorities, accuses MOST, failed to publicly announce the spaces in which it would be allowed to put campaign posters and other promotional materials, without compensation.

According to provisions of Article 78 of the Election Code, the municipalities are obligated to publish, at least 50 days prior to Election Day, the list of locations and the criteria that have to be met to use the space for free posting of campaign posters and materials. Within that deadline, which expired on May 16, such decisions were adopted and published only by the municipal authorities in Strumica, Dojran, Gevgelija, Veles, Krusevo and Prilep.

"MOST" demanded from the competent state bodies to sanction such behaviour and located the responsibility for supervision of the implementation of the election legislation, therefore the responsibility for santioning of violators, with the State Election Commission.

According to Darko Aleksov, President of MOST Civic Association, the political parties "didn't prove immune" to violations of the Law. The Election Code is specific that the presentation of election candidates and candidate lists shall start 20 days before Election Day, at the earliest. On the other hand, certain political parties already started the campaign activities, well ahead of the legal deadlines.

�The question is, will the political parties report the campaign costs, although the campaign has not officially started, in their financial reports? Also, how do they intend to report them, when they haven't established the official bank accounts for campaign funds?" asked Aleksov.

MOST Announced that it will follow the whole electoral process at the 2006 Parliamentary Elections and will report to the public, timely and regularly, about the registered findings and irregularities. The association invited all participants in the electoral process to give their full contribution to holding fair and democratic elections.