Skopje, 3 May 2023 (MIA) - The constitutive session of the working group on electoral reforms will take place in the Skopje-based MPs Club on Wednesday.

The working group, established by the Ministry of Justice, is set to implement OSCE/ODIHR recommendations and draft a new Electoral Code in parallel.

Group chair Aleksandar Novakovski, a lawyer and former president of the State Election Commission, told MIA the priorities should be identified by all members.

"I only chair the group and we will jointly identify priorities. We will work transparently so that certain adjustments are made, primarily regarding OSCE/ODIHR recommendations that have been highlighted throughout election cycles, but there is also a remark regarding a new Electoral Code," says Novakovski.

The OSCE Office in Skopje has expressed satisfaction from the consensus among all political stakeholders in the country over the need and preparedness for incorporation of the OSCE/ODIHR technical recommendations, which have also been included in the European Commission Progress Report.

The working group includes representatives of SDSM, DUI, AA, BESA, Alternativa, Levica and Democratic Union, while VMRO-DPMNE has not delegated its representative.

Besides political parties, the group also includes representatives of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ministry of Information Society and Administration, MOST, Civil, Polio Plus, Registry Office, State Statistical Office, Central Registry, Administrative Court, State Election Commission, National Democratic Institute, Association of Journalists of Macedonia and Independent Union of Journalists and of Macedonia.

Photo: MIA archive