Skopje, 1 October 2021 (MIA) – Civil – Center for Freedom, a NGO monitoring the 2021 election campaign, has identified irregularities, cases of political misuse of children and cases of COVID-19 protocols being violated, its president Xhabir Derala said Friday. Speaking at a news conference, Derala, citing Civil’s sources, said a manager had sent SMS texts to employees in an educational institution telling them they have to attend DUI’s election rally. People with temporary employment contacts were also under a lot of pressure. Civil is looking into the case and it has evidence, said Derala. NGO Civil, he said, is reminding the political parties that such instances are against the Electoral Code and the code of ethics they had signed ahead of the October 17 local elections. “We call on the parties and their leaders to abandon the practice of threatening and pressure as means to persuade voters to vote for them,” Derala told the news conference. He also said that cases of hate speech, disinformation, and manipulation of facts on social media and in some media outlets were also monitored. Multiple social media posts have been published by members and supporters of VMRO-DPMNE and Levica. Derala said it involved an organized network of media and social media accounts that spread disinformation and hate speech in order to manipulate voters. Civil also detected cases of violation of COVID-19 protection protocols at rallies of the parties Levica, VMRO-DPMNE and DUI. Cases of political misuse of children were also detected at the Kumanovo rally of VMRO-DPMNE on September 27 and by the leader of the Party for Democratic Prosperity of Roma, Aksel Ahmedovski, on September 30. After the 2021 census ended on September 30, Derala said that manipulation and hate speech involving the statistical office was detected, which was aimed at the ruling majority in order to discredit political rivals in the election race. https://youtu.be/qcy1q_gnyfk