Macedonian News

Presidential elections 2004 - Daily review (MAR 30)

Skopje - The official campaign for election of president of the Republic of Macedonia started Monday at midnight and would last 24 hours before start of the elections, April 14.

VMRO-DPMNE will traditionally start its campaign in Ohrid and end in Skopje on April 12. The party will hold ten rallies during 12 days and many meetings with citizens.

SDSM will start its campaign on Wednesday with a formal Convention. The party will hold numerous rallies, tribunes and meetings with citizens will be held between April 1-12.

DUI will begin the campaign with a meeting in Tetovo on April 1.

DUI presidential candidate Gzim Ostreni, besides the rallies in Tetovo and Skopje, will hold rallies in Kicevo, Gostivar, Kumanovo, Debar and Struga and tribunes and meetings with citizens.

DPA presidential candidate Zudi Xhelili Tuesday starts his campaign with a Convention in Skopje. Xhelili's campaign will end in Tetovo on April 12.

Skopje - "Bosniaks Democratic Party will support VMRO-DPMNE candidate Sasko Kedev at the forthcoming presidential elections," party's leader Alija Sahic informed at the press conference on Tuesday.

The main reason for such decision is that Kedev is a candidate with clear background and is not politically corrupted.

"I appeal to the Bosniaks in Macedonia to vote for Kedev because it is their obligation. Bosniaks were not included in the Constitution nor they had quota in the education until 1996-1997. There have been done a lot during the last four years," Sahic said.

Skopje - The Broadcasting Council started monitoring of media coverage for the presidential elections, which will include all radio and TV stations of the public and private sector that work legally in the country.

Throughout monitoring, the Council will observe how media cover the election campaign and meet obligations, which have been established by Broadcasting Laws and election of parliamentarians in the Parliament, as well as the decision on the rules of equal access in media representation for the election of president of the Republic of Macedonia.

President of the Broadcasting Council Djordji Varoslija on the press conference on Tuesday informed that Macedonian Radio Television and local public broadcasting enterprises, which have legal obligation to cover the election campaign, submitted necessary regulations for equal media representation and price lists for paid political advertising.

Broadcasting associations that broadcast program at a national level, Sitel, Channel 77, Antenna 5 and Ros, informed the Council that they would cover the campaign and submitted Books of Rules and price lists.

According to Varoslija, the first quantitative analyse of the monitoring would be finished a few days after the end of the first round voting, i.e. few days after the eventual second round voting. The analyse, together with final results of the monitoring, will be submitted to the Anticorruption Commission.

The Monitoring Council engaged 112 external associates, who signed statements that they were not members of political parties.

OSCE will support the conduct of the monitoring.

Skopje - Spokesperson of SDSM election headquarters Radmila Secerinska assessed VMRO-DPMNE candidate Sasko Kedev's statement regarding PM Branko Crvenkovski's visit to Washington as improper.

"Each serious candidate in every country would unite for such an event. Therefore, it is a question whether Kedev in case to be elected for a president would decide not to attend NATO Summit in Istanbul, because in that case Macedonia would be an observer only, but not a member," Secerinska said.

Skopje - The State Election Commission (SEC) promoted Tuesday the official web site for the Presidential Elections 2004, which can be accessed at www.izbori.gov.mk or at www.dik.mk.

SEC Spokesman Zoran Tanevski informed that the web site contains basic data on the presidential candidates, the legal regulative, guidelines, data for monitors and election bodies. The web site, which will be regularly updated, also contains links for press, results and contacts, as well as archive on elections held in Macedonia since 1998.

The information can also be read in English, along with e-mail for contact info_dik@zic.gov.mk.

Tanevski announced that requests for accreditation of foreign mission and domestic NGO's have arrived at SEC, with 30 requests from OSCE, 32 from NGO "Most", 50 from Tetovo Youth Alliance and 8 requests from Center for Democratic and Economic Development.

The Press Center in the Macedonian Parliament will be opened on April 12, with briefings and press conferences held until that date.

NGO PARLIAMENT: HIGH CITIZENS' AWARENESS, PRECONDITION FOR SUCCESSFUL ELECTIONS

Skopje - The NGO Parliament announced that it will increase its activities with the beginning of the campaign for the presidential elections, with the purpose of raising the citizens' awareness.

Thus, this NGO will present concrete projects during the presidential campaign, which will point to the role of the citizen as the deciding factor for mass, fair and democratic elections.

"The voting society is a highly developed and democratic society", NGO Parliament states, which main principles and activities are based on strengthening of the civic and democratic society in the Republic of Macedonia.

Skopje - Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) began its presidential campaign in Skopje on Tuesday, with presentation of presidential candidate of this party Zudi Xhelili.

In his short address, Xhelili spoke about the relations of DPA with the other party of Albanians in Macedonia, as well as the program he can offer to citizens.

"DPA will do everything to mend the mistakes of PDP and the naivete of DUI", Xhelili emphasized.

Party leader Arben Xhaferi also had an address, according to whom, there are three categories of problems for the Macedonian citizens, these being the name, identity and the language of Albanians, economic transition and social problems of citizens, and interethnic relations.

He stressed that DPA will once again point out the issue for full engagement in the realization of the Framework Agreement.

"Our efforts are directed towards preservation of the Albanian interests and strengthening of Macedonia's stability and the region in general. Our participation is with the purpose to give weight to the Albanian vote, and to emphasize our clear determination for integration of Macedonia in Euro-Atlantic institutions", Xhaferi said.

Ohrid - Under the motto "Kedev for president, the new face of Macedonia," Tuesday in Ohrid started the preelection campaign of VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Sasko Kedev.

VMRO-DPMNE traditionally starts its preelection campaigns in Ohrid, because "Ohrid is a heart of Macedonia."

VMRO-DPMNE parliamentarian Spiro Mavrovski, party's leader Nikola Gruevski, LP leader Stojan Andov and presidential candidate Sasko Kedev addressed to the people of Ohrid.

Sasko Kedev said that he had experience in making successful teams, friends and bringing fast, brave and good decisions. He pointed out that there were many reasons for his decision to become a candidate, but the most significant was to bring back the dignity to the people and faith in their perspective.

Kedev considers that Macedonia should work more actively on the plan of its Euro-Atlantic integration.

"I hear statements that we are close to NATO and soon we will join the Alliance, but NATO Ambassador faced us with the reality that we must do the necessary reforms and then to approximate to NATO standards. We should stop lying each other and hearing endless manipulation," Kedev pointed out.

"Europe respects us on how we pass decisions and how we care for the people, not only on how we hear what Europe will tell us. The USA is our friend and strategic partner, while Europe is our family where we should finally integrate, and we could not manage it by hearing only," Kedev said at the meeting in Ohrid.

Kedev visited Struga and Vevcani before the meeting in Ohrid.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski in his address emphasized that Macedonia needed not only economic reforms, but also spiritual reforms.

"Crvenkovski runs away from one armchair to another and his politics is a course of the economy disaster in Macedonia," said LP leader Stojan Andov.

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