FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS APRIL Report by Ronny Myhrvold

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS APRIL 2004 Report by Ronny Myhrvold NORDEM Report 09/2004

Copyright: the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights/NORDEM and Ronny Myhrvold. NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, is a programme of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), and has as its main objective to actively promote international human rights. NORDEM is jointly administered by NCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. NORDEM works mainly in relation to multilateral institutions. The operative mandate of the programme is realised primarily through the recruitment and deployment of qualified Norwegian personnel to international assignments which promote democratisation and respect for human rights. The programme is responsible for the training of personnel before deployment, reporting on completed assignments, and plays a role in research related to areas of active involvement. The vast majority of assignments are channelled through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NORDEM Report is a series of reports documenting NORDEM activities and is published jointly by NORDEM and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Series editor: Siri Skåre Series consultants: Hege Mørk, Gry Kval, Christian Boe Astrup The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher(s). ISSN: 1503 1330 ISBN: 82 90851 77 4 NORDEM Report is available online at: http://www.humanrights.uio.no/forskning/publ/publikasjonsliste.html

Preface On 26 February 2004 late president of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Boris Trajkovski, was killed in an airplane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The presidential elections that were scheduled for autumn this year thus had to be advanced as the constitution of the country required new elections to be held within the 40 day deadline for filling the vacancy in the Presidency. A decision by the Constitutional Court declaring the Presidency to be vacant was published in the Official Gazette on 7 March, which officially initiated the election period. On invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the OSCE through its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established an international election observation mission in Skopje in March for the 2004 presidential elections. Head of Mission was Ambassador Friedrich Bauer from Austria. A team of 10 core staff members was located in the capital Skopje and 18 long-term observers (LTOs) were deployed in 9 regional centres to follow the pre-election campaign period and preparations for the elections. On the first election day, 14 April, over 300 OSCE/ODIHR observers, including the locally recruited, were deployed to observe the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting and the tabulation of results. The OSCE/ODIHR observers covered over 1,400 polling stations in all Municipal Election Commission areas. Since no candidate won the first round with the required majority the elections were repeated on 28 April. This time 290 international observers were deployed throughout the country. One long term observer and two short term observers were recruited to the election observation mission by the Norwegian Institute of Human rights and the Norwegian Refugee Council, through the NORDEM Stand-by Force, at the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The observers were Ronny Myhrvold (LTO), Inge Asbjørn Fredriksen and Jostein Hoel. This report is based on the observations and findings made by the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission and the Norwegian observers. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights / NORDEM University of Oslo August 2004

Contents Preface Contents Map of Country Introduction...1 Political background...1 The Legislative Framework...3 The Electoral Administration...4 Voter and Civic Education...5 Voter Registration...5 Candidate registration...6 The Election campaign...8 The Media...8 Observation on the Polling Day...9 The review of Complaints Process... 14 Conclusions and recommendations... 15 Comments on the election observation mission... 17 Appendices... 17

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 1 Introduction On invitation from the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights established a regular size Election Observation Mission in March 2004 to observe the preparations for and the actual conduct of the presidential elections. The mission was led by Ambassador Friedrich Bauer and consisted of a ten person core team and eighteen longterm observers (LTOs). Nine regional observation centres were set up on 27 March throughout the country in order to follow the election process leading to the election day on 14 April. Since none of the four presidential candidates succeeded in receiving the votes of the majority of the total number of registered voters in the first round of the elections a second round of elections was held on 28 April. In the first round some 160 international Short-Term Observers (STOs) were deployed to the different centres throughout the country. The number of overseas STOs was reduced to around 80 in the second round. However, the total number of STOs amounted to approximately 300 in both rounds due to the inclusion of locally recruited international observers. Two Norwegians were seconded to the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission as short term observers in addition to the long term observer, Ronny Myhrvold. Inge Asbjørn Fredriksen Kumanovo Jostein Hoel Gevgelija The findings of the Norwegian STOs are presented in chapter Observation on the Election Day. The information in the other chapters is largely based on data from OSCE/ODIHR and other sources. Political background The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) gained independence after a referendum held in September 1991. A large majority of the population voted in favour of secession from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In November the same year the parliament passed a new constitution and the republic was officially declared to be a sovereign and independent state. Because of an unresolved dispute with Greece over the name of the country its official name remains the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, under which it became a member of the United Nations in 1993. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has a parliamentary form of government. The president, who is elected in a direct popular vote, has relatively limited powers at his disposal. Most importantly the president is the head of the republic s security council and he/she also proposes a prime minister who forms a government. The ethnic composition of the country is made up of an ethnic Macedonian majority, a large ethnic Albanian minority and other various smaller minorities. Minority rights have since independence constituted one of the major political challenges in FYROM.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 2 Especially the status of the large ethnic Albanian community has been one of the most difficult and controversial questions. According to the 2002 census ethnic Macedonians comprise 64.18 per cent of the population and ethnic Albanians 25.17 per cent. The political party landscape is primarily divided along ethnic lines although parties cover the whole of the political spectrum. All ethnicities are represented by at least one political party. The four major parties, which also promote a presidential candidate, are currently: VMRO-DPMNE: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity. (Ethnic Macedonian) SDSM: Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Ethnic Macedonian) DPA: Democratic Party of Albanians (Ethnic Albanian) DUI: Democratic Union for Integration (Ethnic Albanian VMRO-DPMNE and DPA formed a government coalition from 1998 to 2002 before an SDSM led coalition won the parliamentary elections in fall 2002. DUI, established in June 2002 and becoming the victor on the ethnic Albanian side in the same elections, is part of the ruling coalition with SDSM and another ethnic Macedonian party, LDP Liberal Democratic Party. The Ohrid Framework Agreement and after In 2001 the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia found itself on the brink of civil war. Ethnic Albanian insurgents induced an armed conflict in the beginning of the year fighting under the name of the National Liberation Army (NLA). The fighting came largely as a surprise to the majority of the population as well as the international community. However, inter-ethnic tension had troubled the country for almost a decade since independence. In the 1990s particularly the debate on the issue of higher education and the establishment of the illegal University of Tetovo generated controversy. In addition, the display of the Albanian flag on public buildings led to confrontations between Macedonian police forces and ethnic Albanian demonstrators. The situation became more fragile with the instability in neighbouring Kosovo in the late 1990s and the influx of refugees in 1999 had a profound impact on the political scene. NLA claimed from the outbreak to be defending the ethnic Albanian population against Macedonian security forces and later demanded constitutional changes that would secure basic human rights for the ethnic Albanian minority. The conflict escalated gradually through several isolated violent incidents near the Kosovo border to the area around Tetovo and the city of Kumanovo and led to a large number of internally displaced persons. Under strong pressure from the international community a unity government was created in May 2001 consisting of the then government coalition partners VMRO-DPMNE Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity and DPA Democratic Party of Albanians and the two major opposition parties in parliament, SDMS Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and PDP Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity. With the active participation of late president Boris Trajkovski a formal peace agreement, the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), was signed by the leaders of these four parties on 13 August 2001 intending to cease all violent hostilities. The agreement included several constitutional amendments and envisaged a rapid decentralisation of state powers and local government reforms. Moreover, enhanced rights were given to the country s minorities, especially to the ethnic Albanian community. Constituting more than 20 per cent of the population the

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 3 OFA prescribed the recognition of the Albanian language as a second official language and proportional representation in state structures. The international community took the responsibility for collecting arms and ammunition possessed by the NLA. Finally the OFA called for new parliamentary elections to be held by the end of year 2001. The parliamentary elections scheduled to be conducted late 2001 were nonetheless postponed several times. Held in September 2002 the elections led to what is often seen as a landslide victory for the Together for Macedonia coalition in which SDSM was the largest party, and DUI, the newly established political successor of NLA headed by Ali Ahmeti. After the inauguration of the government comprising SDSM, LDP and DUI the coalition has been primarily occupied with reinstating state authority and establishing security in all parts of the country. In addition, committed to implement the OFA, the government has succeeded in proposing and passing several OFA related laws in parliament. It has also partially been able to increase the representation of ethnic Albanians in state structures to a satisfactory level. However, certain essential provisions of the OFA such as the decentralisation process and the re-drawing of municipal boundaries are still not implemented. And, although the incumbent government has been relatively successful in re-establishing state control and authority in the former crisis area the economic situation has improved little since 2002. The economic situation and high unemployment levels are currently the issues that concern the population the most. The Legislative Framework Principally the constitution of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia describes the conduct of and standards for accomplishment of presidential elections. On 08 March 2004 parliament enacted amendments on the Law on Presidential Elections in order to meet the specific requirements related to the election timeline as described in the constitution. Moreover, the amendments identified the election management bodies that administer presidential elections. They include the provision for replacement of vacancies on existing election commissions, specify the shortened periods for submitting nominations, inspection of voter lists and campaigning and creates a new and streamlined system for complaints and appeals. Finally, the amendments established a provision for the layout and content of the ballot paper. Underlying the legislative framework is also the Parliamentary Election Law of 2002, which defines basic election structures and procedures. To stand as a presidential candidate certain criteria have to be met of which confirmed citizenship of the republic, residence in the country for at least ten out of the last fifteen years prior to the elections and being minimum 40 years of age are the most important. In addition, to be nominated a candidate has to demonstrate support either through the submission of petitions signed by 30 parliamentarians or 10,000 registered voters. The president is elected in a direct vote. A candidate for presidency must, in order to win the elections on the first day of voting, obtain the votes of a majority of the total number of registered voters (50 per cent + 1). If in the first round of voting no candidate receives the majority required, voting in the second round will be restricted to the two candidates who have gathered most electoral support. The second round shall take place within 14 days of the termination of the first round. Similar to the turnout requirement of the first

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 4 round, more than a majority of registered voters have to participate in the second for the elections to be announced valid. Both the first and the second round are annulled if the threshold of 50 per cent is not reached in each of them. In such a scenario the whole electoral procedure would be repeated. The Electoral Administration The Law on Presidential Elections establishes a three-level election administration system comprising the State Election commission (SEC), 34 Municipal Election Commissions (MEC) and 2,973 Election Boards (EB). As opposed to the parliamentary elections held in 2002 the fourth level, Regional Elections Commissions (REC), had been removed from the electoral administration structure. The 2002 Law on election of members of parliament was applied to define the responsibilities of the different election management bodies. Only the four largest parties in parliament, i.e., the parties that won most seats in the last parliamentary elections could propose representatives to the election management bodies. Both ethnic and political apsects are considered and bodies comprise the main ruling and opposition parties. Primarily this would imply that SDSM, VMRO-DPMNE, DPA and DUI would have commissioners in the bodies. However, since DUI and PDP were running a joint campaign for the candidature of Mr Gzim Ostreni and the amendments to the Law on Presidential Elections intended to maintain election management bodies as they functioned in the 2002 parliamentary elections, several PDP members could be observed filling positions in MECs and EBs. State Election Commission (SEC) The composition of the SEC is a president and eight members, plus their deputies. All members except the president were the same as during the parliamentary elections. Mr Stevo Pendarovski, former advisor to the late president and functionary of the ministry of interior, was appointed SEC president. Four of the commission s members are supreme court judges appointed with the agreement of each of the political parties mentioned above. Four other members are appointed by the main ruling and opposition parties. The SEC is primarily responsible for applying election laws and decides upon all complaints filed The SEC also appoints members of MECs and their deputies. Training of MEC members is arranged and directed by the SEC. Municipal Election Commission (MEC) 34 MECs are established to administer the elections. MECs consist of one president and four members, plus their deputies. According to the law on parliamentary elections, article 20, the MEC president and his/her deputy are appointed by the SEC. In the amendments it is stated that other members of the MECs should be appointed by the SEC. The president and two regular members should be primary court judges. The two remaining members are chosen by the main political parties, one from the ruling and one from the opposition. MECs receive election results from polling stations, consolidate them and submit the results to the SEC. MECs are also in charge of training EBs. This type of training was in reality done by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) between 05-10 April.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 5 Election Boards (EB) The 2,973 polling stations are administered by election boards, or polling station committees. One EB consists of five members and their deputies. The current legislation prescribes that the president of the EB, and her/his deputy shall be law graduates. However, as in certain areas there are an insufficient number of law graduates the qualification requirement cannot always be met. The main ruling and opposition parties propose the other four members. In the current political context SDSM and DUI would represent the ruling parties and VMRO-DPMNE and DPA the opposition. In ethnically pure areas representatives of the non-residing ethnicity would often be replaced with a member of its political coalition partner Deputies of regular members should only participate in the work of the EB once the regular member is absent. The EBs are mainly tasked to receive the election materials from the MEC and setting up polling stations, manage the voting and ensure that the voting takes in accordance with democratic standards, sum up the result at the polling station and finally, make the minutes of their work and submit these with the election materials to the MEC by midnight on election day. Most of the election management bodies established for the 2002 parliamentary elections remained in place which simplified the work of the SEC. Technical assistance to enter election results into computerised data sytems in the MECs were provided by the State Bureau of Statistics. Voter and Civic Education For the most part the electorate seemed to have adequate knowledge of different aspects of the electoral process. Information on voting procedures was made available at each polling station and instruction posters were also visible in the large majority of them. A list of candidates was also posted in polling stations. Understanding of procedures varied depending on geographic and age variables. Generally, younger urban dwellers seemed more familiar with election procedures. One deficiency, which could be ascribed partly to the short timeframe for preparing and holding the elections, was the limited prospect voters had to check voters lists. This was in turn aggravated by the fact that no information about the voters lists was published before the elections (see below). Voter Registration The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for registering voters on the official voters list. Persons eligible for voting need to have reached the age of 18, have residence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and hold a valid ID card or passport. Citizens temporarily residing abroad have the right to vote, but have to return to the territory of FYROM in order to cast their ballots. The voter list was updated immediately prior to the elections and included 1,695,103 names, which signifies an eight per cent increase in registered voters compared to the

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 6 2002 parliamentary elections. One of the problems emerging from the short timeframe given to prepare the elections was the limited possibility of voters to control the voter list. Since the lists were posted at district ministries for public inspection from 13 to 22 March, ten days, only 100,000 persons checked their details. Around six per cent reported errors, which were amended before election day. Besides the restricted time to check the lists no public information campaign was launched on the issue. Taking into account these two weaknesses there is reason to believe that many more errors remained after the first corrections. Complicating the issue further is the large number of citizens who have emigrated but who are still on the voter lists. Comparing the lists with the findings of the 2002 census, considered to have been conducted in line with international standards, it is estimated that seven to eight per cent of persons on the voter list are no longer present in the country. Several civil society organisations and political parties were concerned that this could lead to electoral malfeasance. 1 Regarding registration of internally displaced persons (IDP) it is estimated that 860 persons were allowed to vote in IDP collective centres in Skopje and Kumanovo on 13 and 27 April (special voting). However, indications suggest that around 50 per cent of the total number of registered IDPs were not on the voters list issued for the IDP collective centres. Due to the short time frame IDPs were unable to check whether they should vote at the polling station at the centre or at their previous residence. Representatives of the IDPs in Kumanovo pronounced before the first round of voting that they would officially forward a request to the SEC for the inclusion of all IDPs on the special voting list. The list was not altered before the first or second round of voting. Candidate registration On 25 March the SEC approved four candidates to stand for president. Two of them were ethnic Macedonians and the two others were ethnic Albanians. All of the candidates, except current prime minister Branko Crvenkovski are serving members of parliament and belong to the four major political parties in the country. Mr. Branko Crvenkovski is president of SDSM, Mr. Sasko Kedev of VMRO-DPMNE, Mr. Zudi Xhelili of DPA and finally Mr. Gzim Ostreni of DUI. A fifth nominee, former minister of interior Ljube Boskovski, a VMRO-DPMNE member but intending to run as independent, succeeded in receiving more than 10,000 signatures but his candidature was rejected by the SEC on the grounds that he had resided outside the country during the 15 last years prior to the elections. The president of DPA, Mr. Arben Xhaferi, withdrew his candidature before it was handled by the SEC, allegedly because he expected his nomination to be denied because of residency requirements. Participation of women in the electoral process 1 OSCE/ODIIHR Election Observation Mission Statement of the Preliminary Findings and Conclusions, Skopje, 14 April 2004

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 7 There were no female candidates in the presidential elections. None of the four candidates put stress on gender issues with the exception of Mr Ostreni who during one meeting in Skopje approached a large group of female supporters and called for a more active participation of ethnic Albanian women in politics and for an increased role in all spheres of society. In other political rallies held by the two ethnic Albanian candidates female attendees were conspicuous by their absence. In Kumanovo and Aracinovo women constituted less than five per cent of the audience. Generally attendance by women at rallies was low. In election management bodies the percentage of women varied depending on geographic and ethnic background. In the SEC only one member was a woman. In MECs the number of women varied from ten to 50 per cent. Tendencies depicted a higher concentration of women in MECs in urban compared to rural areas. In EBs 60 per cent of the members were women but the percentage dropped to 45 per cent in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas. Participation of minorities in the electoral process As in previous presidential elections in FYROM there were no candidates from ethnic minorities except the large ethnic Albanian minority. However, several political parties representing the ethnic minorities supported one candidate or the other. Clearly the ethnic minority parties that constituted part of the Together for Macedonia coalition in the 2002 parliamentary elections such as the Democratic Party of Serbs, the Democratic Partyof Turks and the Union for Emancipation (Roma) aligned themselves with SDSM candidate Branko Crvenkovski. Regarding one specific minority, the ethnic Roma, it is likely that they were under substantial pressure and subject to manipulation. One Roma NGO claimed that many Roma were missing on the voter lists. Additionally, circulating rumours indicated that Roma communities in the areas of Stip and Strumica were susceptible to selling their votes. In the predominantly ethnic Roma municipality Suto Orizari in Skopje one domestic observation organisation reported that ethnic Roma had complained about votes being cast on their behalf. Finally, evident ballot stuffing took place in the presence of ODIHR observers in the first round, also in Suto Orizari. Domestic observers Over 4,000 domestic non-partisan observers from eight different organisations were accredited by the SEC, contributing to confidence in the election results. MOST, which was the largest of these organisations deployed 3,320 observers and conducted a parallel vote tabulation. Besides, MOST arranged four press conferences on the day of the second round elections. OSCE/ODIHR observers reported the presence of domestic nonpartisan observers in 54 per cent of polling stations observed. Candidate representatives, mostly members of the four major political parties, could be registered up until election day and were observed in 92 per cent of the polling stations visited in the first round of voting.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 8 The Election campaign Due to the condensed timeframe for holding the elections campaign periods were short. Before the first round campaigning were conducted from 30 March to 12 April. Campaigning resumed on 17 April and lasted until the 26 April. Election campaigns prior to both rounds took place in a peaceful and orderly manner. All presidential candidates campaigned actively in the first round and the sporadic violent incidents that occurred before the 2002 parliamentary elections did not recur. Despite the short campaign period all four presidential candidates had the opportunity to convey their programme to the electorate. The main themes of all candidates were the necessity of full implementation of the OFA, security and stability issues, Euro-Atlantic integration and the difficult economic situation. Use of inflammatory language was largely avoided. However, Mr Xhelili and major DPA leaders used harsh and charged rhetoric when characterizing political opponents and the Slav-Macedonian majority. Before the first round of voting, campaigning was primarily conducted on an intra-ethnic basis. Neither Mr. Crvenkovski nor Mr Kedev, although announcing that they would be president of all citizens, attempted convincingly to get the electoral support from the ethnic Albanian community. Conversely, on the ethnic Albanian side Mr Xhelili and Mr Ostreni did little to attract ethnic Macedonian voters. Significant for a large majority of rallies held by both ethnic Albanian presidential candidates, Mr. Xhelili and Mr. Ostreni, was the extensive focus on exclusively Albanian matters. The campaign meetings were introduced with the singing of the Albanian national anthem, speeches were held solely in the Albanian language and no Macedonian flags were displayed. It should be mentioned that Mr Ostreni addressed the audience in Macedonian language in some campaign events. In-between the two rounds of voting campaigning activities and rallies were reduced. The two candidates endeavoured to mobilise party organisations and voters at the local level through direct meetings and sporadic rallies. Moreover, in an attempt to bolster support among the ethnic Albanians both Slav-Macedonian candidates appealed to ethnic Albanians directly. In addition to place advertisements in Albanian-language newspapers both conducted public events with ethnic Albanian voters. In the second round much attention was given to the potential risk of insufficient turn-out and the failure of not reaching the 50 per cent plus one threshold. Especially to what extent ethnic Albanians would participate in the final round and which candidate they would support was debated. DUI announced at an early stage that the party would support the candidature of prime minister Crvenkovski and advocated its supporters to do the same. DPA remained indecisive and did not support any specific candidate; neither would the party call on its supporters to use their democratic and civic rights. The Media Media in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is characterised by its numerous outlets of local and national newspapers, radio and TV stations. The state owned media channels are under government control while the private media channels often reflect

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 9 particular partisan interests. Thus, despite the diversity and magnitude in both printed and electronic media, editorial independence is not always guaranteed. Nationwide there are five TV channels, three under the umbrella of the national public broadcaster, Macedonian Radio and TV (MRTV), and two private ones, TV A1 and TV Sitel. In addition there exist 29 local public radio and TV stations, three national private radio stations and 120 local private broadcasters. Regarding printed media there are nine daily newspapers published on a daily basis. Two of them are printed in the Albanian language, Flaka and Fakti all the others are printed in the Macedonian language. The newspapers with the highest circulation are Dvevnik, Utrinski vesnik and Vest and these newspapers are now owned formally by the newly formed Media Print Macedonia. The Law on Parliamentary Elections regulates media coverage of the presidential election campaign. Media is also during the time of campaigns governed by the Rules for Equal Access to Media Presentation, proposed by the Macedonian Broadcasting Council, and approved by parliament on 18 March 2004. The Rules for Equal Access require that state broadcast media provide free airtime to all presidential candidates on the basis of fair, objective and transparent criteria. Regulations for commercial broadcasters are less strict. However, if they decide to give free airtime it has to be on an equal basis. Print media is far less regulated still but has to be observant of the rules of balanced and impartial coverage of candidates. Media coverage of the two campaigning rounds and of all four candidates was generally balanced and fair. Moreover, the majority of print and electronic media outlets provided the electorate with considerable and comprehensive information on the campaign. On the state owned public TV channel, MTV1, the amount of time distributed to candidates were balanced. The public channel broadcasting in the languages of minorities, MTV3, provided more airtime to the two ethnic Albanian candidates while the private broadcasters and print media paid more attention to the likely winners of the first round. One exception was Fakti, the largest Albanian paper, which gave more coverage to the ethnic Albanian candidates. Basically all private media presented neutral reports on the campaigns. 2 Observation on the Polling Day The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission found that the 2004 presidential elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were conducted generally in accordance with OSCE commitments and international standards. However, where the first round of voting took place in a peaceful atmosphere the second round was characterised by serious irregularities, such as proxy voting, ballot stuffing and intimidation in certain parts of the country. Voter turn out was markedly lower than in previous elections, approximately 55 and 53 per cent respectively. 2 OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions, Skopje 14 and 28 April 2004

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 10 The two Norwegian STOs participated in the election observation of the second round of voting. This report s description of the first round is thus based on the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions and is included below. Observation of the first round The first round held on 14 April was conducted and completed largely in line with international democratic standards. As described above the campaigning period was overall devoid of violence and intimidation of voters. Allegations of intimidation and buying of votes were not submitted as formal complaints. On election day, which also passed in a peaceful manner, election procedures were perceived as being followed positively in a vast majority of polling stations. Opening procedures were judged to be good or very good in 92 per cent of the polling stations visited. 33 per cent of the polling stations opened late for different reasons. The voting process was rated good or very good in 95 per cent of the polling stations observed. Irregularities observed were proxy voting in 26 and strong indications of ballot stuffing in ten polling stations. In two cases an EB member falsified the signatures on the extract of the voter list in the presence of OSCE/ODIHR observers. Omissions of signing or marking the voters list were noticed in four per cent of the polling stations. Another breach of democratic rules was several instances of group voting. The phenomenon was observed in 13 per cent of polling stations, 21 per cent in ethnic Albanian areas. Finally it is worth mentioning that in one of the domestic non-partisan observation organisations reported that some of their observers had been threatened and made to leave the same polling station in Suto Orizari in which OSCE/ODIHR observers later witnessed ballot stuffing. Counting and tabulation on the other hand was assessed as relatively poor compared to the other processes. Procedural errors occurred in many polling stations. In 14 per cent of polling stations observed the results did not reconcile. In less than half of these cases no recount was conducted as required by the law. In other cases signatures were added to the voter list to solve the problem. The complicated minutes (form 14) and the lack of a tabulated results protocol led to 15 per cent of EBs having difficulties in filling out the minutes. In over 40 per cent of polling stations the final results were not posted. Regarding tabulation in MECs it was observed that results were systematically changed in several MEcs to reconcile them and to allow entry into the computerised data system. In two MECs observers were hindered in monitoring checking and entry of results as they were processed in separate closed rooms. The SEC announced that 935,372 out of 1,695,103 registered voters exercised their right to vote, which signifies a 55.18 per cent turnout. Candidates Mr. Branko Crvenkovski and Mr Sasko Kedev received 42.47 and 34.07 per cent electoral support respectively, and thus went on to the second round. 3 Regional specific information Jostein Hoel was deployed as an STO to Strumica but was assigned to cover the elections in Gevgelija municipality, adjacent to the Greek border in the south-east of the country. The Municipality has 28 800 registered voters. 98 per cent of the population is 3 State Election Commission of the Republic of Macedonia. http://www.dik.mk

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 11 ethnic Macedonians, and the remaining 2 per cent ethnic Turks, Serbs, Roma, Vlachs and others. Inge Asbjørn Fredriksen was deployed to Kumanovo, 40 kilometres east/north-east of Skopje, close to the Serbian border. Kumanovo is the seat of the MEC for the municipalities of Kumanovo, Staro Majorcan, and Lipkovo. The total amount of polling stations reporting to the MEC was 167 with a total of 106658 registered voters. The population in the area is ethnically mixed, with a majority of ethnic Macedonians, a large minority of ethnic Albanians, besides the presence of ethnic Romas, Turks, Bulgarians and Serbs. Special voting Tuesday 27 April Article 84 and 86 describe the procedures for the voting of people who are unable to make it to the polling stations on election day. In both rounds of the presidential elections special voting should be conducted on the day prior to regular voting. Special voting comprises four different groups. First there are voters in military barracks, second prisons and jails, third IDP centres and finally mobile voting for people in hospitals. According to the Law the EB in the closest distance of the voting site is responsible for this voting. The two Norwegian STOs observed special voting on 27 April. In Kumanovo the IDP collective centre was visited while in Gevgelija the voting in military barracks and a prison was observed. At the IDP centre the team observed extensive family voting conducted by elderly couples. This malpractice could be ascribed to the fact that there was only one screen in the polling station. It was also noticed that it was the females of the couples that most often directed the voting. One voter insisted on marking her ballot in public (and in full view of at least two TV-cameras) next to the ballot box. The EB members tried to direct the voter to do the marking of the ballot behind the screen, but she refused to comply. Apart from this the voting in the IDP centre proceeded orderly. In both facilities in Gevgelija the voting procedures were strictly followed. In the military barracks the voting soldiers officers were not in the polling station, but in an adjacent room. Voting in the prison was also calm and orderly, and the election board had displayed voting instruction in several languages, Macedonian, Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, Vlach and Roma. In fact, the prison was the only multi-ethnic polling station of those visited by the team. Observation of the opening Only one report from the Norwegian STOs is available. This report indicates that the opening of the polling stations was done in accordance with the procedures set forth in the law and the Electoral Board Procedure Manual. The opening of a polling station in Bogdanci, a large village east of Gevgelija was observed. All the opening procedures were followed, and the polling station opened at 0700 hours sharp. All members of the board were present, and so were candidate representatives from SDSM and VMRO- DPMNE. The head of the election board informed the team that there were campaign posters of Mr. Branko Crvenkovski on the wall of a store nearby, and that they had unsuccessfully asked the store owner to remove them. At the time of opening, however, the owner was, in fact, busy plastering over the campaign posters.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 12 Observation of the polling In Kumanovo no serious deviations from national regulations or international standards concerning voting were reported. All nine EBs observed seemed to be well trained, and their understanding and performance of given tasks seemed good or very good. Only a few minor deviations were observed. On some occasions the voters identification papers were given back to the voters before they had cast their ballots. However, on those occasions the polling stations were not crowded and the STO observed that the vote was cast by the proper voter. In two polling stations the EBs were unable to present form 13 (the minutes of the opening). The form had according to the EBs already been forwarded to the MEC. According to national regulations; form 13 should be brought to the MEC along with the ballot box and all other materials after closing and counting. It was observed that the EB members and their deputies frequently divided the tasks among themselves at polling stations, and thus allowed all more breaks. This seemed to be standard practises at all polling stations. In Gevgelija 13 polling stations were observed. In all polling stations voting was calm, orderly and well organised, and in none were there problems of overcrowding. In no polling stations were there indications of fraud, and observers received no indications of violations from election board members or party representatives. However, in many polling stations family voting was observed. In all of the cases this involved a man voting together with a woman in the same booth. This practice did not, however, seem very widespread. In the polling station in one of the villages it was noticed that none of the persons voting were invited to sign their names on the extract of the voter list. The head of the election board explained it as a tradition that voters did not sign the register. This was a serious violation which, while not necessarily an attempt to influence the result, provided room for fraud. The polling stations the team visited only had voting instructions in Macedonian. All the election boards stated that they had not received instructions in minority languages from the MEC, and that in any case there was no need for such as there were no ethnic minorities in their area. Observation of the closing and counting None of the Norwegian STOs reported major problems in closing of polling stations. In Kumanovo the proceedings of the chosen EB were conducted in accordance with regulations. Initially the EB spent much time on counting and recounting the signatures on the voter list in order to reconcile the number of signatures with the number of stubs in the inbound book of ballots. The problem seemed to be minor discrepancies due to the provisions for the handling of votes cast in special voting on 27 April. The procedures of reconciling these votes seemed inadequate or at least confusing. The EB eventually reconciled the voter list with the stubs, and the result was recorded in form 14. Despite this problem all other procedures were followed orderly and accurately. The stacks of ballots for each candidate and the invalid ballots were counted and the results were recorded in the form 14. The number of ballots in the ballot box reconciled with the number of votes cast and recorded in form 14. Ballots were bagged, sealed, and marked separately, and put back in the now empty ballot box together with the previously bagged unused ballots and the voter list. The ballot box was then sealed and form 14 was signed by all members of the EB. No irregularities concerning the closing and counting at the polling station except for the omission of posting a copy of the signed form 14 was observed.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 13 In the Gevgelija area the Norwegian STO reported on the closing of the polling station in the village of Moin. During the closing procedure, the election board committed several violations of the voting procedure: The numbers on the clips sealing the ballot box were not checked against those noted on form 13; the unused ballots were not counted and put in a sealed envelope; and the relevant numbers were not noted down directly on form 14. However, the counting of the ballots was transparent and conducted according to the rules, and the fate of two disputed ballots was quickly resolved. It seemed that the procedural violations were due to a lack of training and knowledge of the procedures among the election board members, and not deliberate attempts of fraud. The same perception holds for minor violations during voting. In general the election boards in urban polling stations displayed a better knowledge of the procedures than those in rural ones. Observation of the tabulation In the MEC in Kumanovo tabulation took place in an open and transparent fashion. The performance of the MEC was mainly conducted in accordance with national regulations and international standards. The observation proved nevertheless that some deviations from those standards could be found. The most serious was the corrections made by MEC members to incoming forms 14. More specifically it was noticed that in cases where MEC members or observing candidate representatives discovered discrepancies in form 14, one MEC member made corrections in the signed forms to reconcile the numbers. These corrections were all small, but breached nevertheless regulations. Possibly discrepancies followed the confusion with the processing at the polling stations of special voting ballots. Another problem was that two EBs in nearby villages had not performed the counting and preparation of form 14. The ballots from the ballot boxes of these two polling stations were counted at the MEC by the commission s president and another MEC member. The results were then entered into the form 16 tabulation sheet and the computer. This process was not conducted in a transparent way. Notwithstanding these deviations, no irregularities were discovered during computerising of data and all MEC members, observing candidate representatives and MOST were allowed to inspect signed forms 14 received from the polling stations. After the completion of the results from all the 167 polling stations, and the completion of the form 16 tabulation sheet, 18 written complaints were filed by the VMRO-DPMNE and DPA MEC members. The complaints were repeated orally by the president and thereafter stamped, dated and signed. The DPA party representative made additional complaints orally, and so did the VMRO-DPMNE representative. These complaints concerned incidents in various, mostly rural, polling stations, and included allegations of ballot stuffing, intimidations of voters and EBs, examples of form 14 where the handwriting of signatures of the EB members were identical and allegations of armed people present inside or outside some polling stations. Later these complaints were recorded in writing and formally signed and stamped for expedition to the SEC. Extracts of the complaints were also entered into the form 16 by the MEC president. All members of the MEC Board except the DPA member signed form 16. Finally it is worth mentioning that the STO noticed a clear difference in the performance of EBs in Kumanovo town and the EBs in the rural villages. Nearly all complaints and observations of deviations concerned incidents in rural polling stations. In the urban areas the observations were similar and complaints were few.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004 14 At the MEC in Gevgelija aggregation and verification of results were observed. The procedure of registering results from polling stations was quick and orderly. Two members of the MEC noted down the results from all polling stations, and a statistician subsequently entered the data into a computer. Party observers were also present, although not permanently. The process took longer than planned because the MEC had problems getting the numbers to add up properly, but this was resolved after going through all the numbers at the end. The review of Complaints Process Only one official complaint was submitted to the SEC before the first round of elections. The complaint was filed by former Minister of Interior, Mr. Ljube Boskovski VMRO- DPMNE member and MP, who wished to run as an independent candidate but was denied to do so by the SEC. The rejection was based on residency requirements as defined in the Law on Presidential Elections. It was argued that the nominee did not fulfil the requirements because he had been residing several years in Croatia during the last 15 years. The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court, which did not alter the decision made by the SEC. On 31 March the Constitutional Court denied a further appeal stating that the questions raised were not within its jurisdiction. Further appeals were forwarded, including one to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, failing to receive judicial support. After the first round elections the SEC received all together 35 complaints on irregularities in 113 out of 2,973 polling stations and one MEC. 16 complaints were filed by DPA and 11 by VMRO-DPMNE. All complaints, consolidated to eight by the SEC, were rejected completely. The SEC based its decision on several grounds. Primarily it was supported with reference to a provision in the Parliamentary Election Law, more precisely article 100, which states that annulment of the elections is required for certain types of violations but only if the number of votes in question is large enough to affect the result of the elections in the district. The ODIHR Election Observation Mission states that the SEC handled each complaint separately and failed to address the cumulative effect of reported violations. Thus, the SEC did not consider the electoral district to be the whole country, which would be normal in presidential elections. 4 Apparently the SEC also used article 100 to reject all complaints although the article in itself is only a provision which make annulment mandatory in certain limited cases. Additionally, the SEC based its decision to the reject the complaints on inadequate evidence of irregularities and election fraud. In the preliminary report issued by the Election Observation Mission it is stated that the SEC did not review any evidence available or give indication of what evidence might be considered sufficient. Finally the SEC rejected numerous complaints on procedural grounds, stating that the complaints had not been filed at the right place, i.e., the polling stations or the MECs. 5 By rejecting all complaints 4 OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions. Skopje 28 April 2004. 5 ibid