MOST to Observe the Mayoral Elections in Saraj

MIA

11 January 2007

MOST Civic Association will monitor the extraordinary local elections in the municipality of Saraj with 82 accredited observers, in static teams in all ballot stations during the whole ballot day, which will be give logistic support by five mobile teams.

MOST will also monitor the work of the State Election Commission and the Municipal Election Commission during the whole ballot day, and during the collection and counting of results. Its observers will be recognizable by their yellow shirts, the ID cards issued by SEC and the MOST credentials that each observer shall have to carry at all times.

Darko Aleksov, MOST Director, noted that, in addition to the Electoral Law, the political parties participating in the elections have the moral obligation to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Free and Fair Elections they signed on the eve of the 2005 Local Elections.

On its findings, MOST will inform the public in regular statements for the public. Its monitoring is supported by the Embassies of the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands.

The U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jillian Milovanovic, expects that the Saraj elections will proceed in fair and democratic atmosphere, without violent incidents, which will be yet another proof that Macedonia is a mature democratic country.

The German Ambassador to Skopje, Ralph Bret believes that the Saraj mayoral elections are very relevant having in mind the events we witnessed in the past election cycles. He appealed to all political parties to do all in their power for the elections to pass in a peaceful, fair and democratic atmosphere.

The Extraordinary Elections for Mayor of Saraj Municipality were called after Imer Selmani, the former Mayor, was appointed Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Healthcare. The citizens in Saraj will be able to give their votes for one of the two running candidates, Bekim Fazliu from DPA and Isni Jakupi from DUI.