Today, the government will make a new attempt to pass the census law that has divided the public and the parties. Everyone agrees that there should be a census, but the question is what kind of census?
Certainly not as the government has in mind where everyone should be counted – people living in Macedonia at the moment and people who have emigrated from the country, or the diaspora.
However, that is not in line with the Eurostat standards that only the resident population is counted. Even those who have been abroad for more than a year should not be counted.
EU’s attitude towards the census and the indifference towards the whole operation is also surprising. The EC told “Republika” yesterday that they expect a census in line with European standards and that they know about the breakdowns. But they did not ask to be removed from the bill.
What’s disputable is that it is not known how the census process will take place. When the census enumerators come, will the members of the household who are currently present register or will one member of the family be able to tell the ID numbers of the others that are not present, who may be living in Macedonia or maybe have moved out a long time ago. All this leaves much room for doubt.
The director of the Statistical Office, Angel Simovski, told “Alfa” that the manner of implementation is a technique and it is not defined in the law.
If the government manages to gather 61 MPs and pass the census bill, the opposition announced its annulment in Parliament by collecting signatures from citizens.
Online petitions for its annulment through social networks have already started…
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