Skopje, 16 August 2025 (MIA) - We showed that we want to overcome legal ambiguities and that the only thing important to us is to ensure equal conditions for the participation of all interested citizens in the upcoming local elections, said coordinator of the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group, Nikola Micevski, after Saturday's debate on amendments to the Electoral Code regulating the percentage of signatures independent candidates have to collect to run in the local elections. 

The Parliament failed to adopt the amendments. The majority of the MPs backed them, but Badinter majority was also required. Eighteen MPs from smaller ethnic communities were against the proposed amendments, whereas 11 voted in favour. 

After European Front coalition MPs reacted during the session that the amendments were in the interest of the ruling parties, and not the citizens, Micevski said that DUI does not care about independent candidates, but "pursuing a policy of playing the victim."

"You have a different goal, you want to present the situation to your voters as if someone is doing something against you, but the essence is very simple - independent candidacies for mayors and councillor lists should be able to participate in local elections, but you are disallowing that," said Micevski. 

He noted that in order to regulate the various legal interpretations and ambiguities in the signature collection procedure to nominate lists of independent candidates, the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group and coalition partners submitted amendments to the Electoral Code that should temporarily regulate this procedure, following the Constitutional Court decision rescinding it. This bill, he added, fills the legal gap and introduces clear rules for signature collection in nominating mayors and councillors of a group of voters.

"An amendment was submitted to the Committee on Political System and Inter-Community Relations by Levica to reduce the threshold from 0.95 percent to 0.5 percent of required signatures for independent candidates, which was acceptable to us, and with eight votes in favour (VMRO-DPMNE, ZNAM, VLEN and SDS) and one against (DUI), the amendment was accepted. It was strange that, although they are proposers, no one from Levica voted in favour of their own amendment. With this, we show that in this legal solution our only goal is to overcome legal interpretations and legal ambiguities and that the only thing that matters to us is the process, of equal conditions for the participation of all interested citizens in these local elections," Micevski said. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Parliament decided to fast-track the amendments. The Committee on Political System and Inter-Community Relations and the Legislative Committee then debated on the amendments. The Parliamentary Committee on Political System and Inter-Community Relations forwarded the amendments for further procedure in Parliament, after adopting an amendment from Levica whereby to nominate lists of MP candidates of a group of voters, it is necessary to collect signatures from at least 0.5 percent of the total number of voters registered in the relevant electoral unit, instead the originally proposed 0.95 percent of the total number of registered voters. 

Photo: MIA