The Parliament discussion on the proposed new census law, which was supposed to take place today, is being cancelled. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party accused the SDSM – DUI led majority of attempting to push through a law which fails to respect Eurostat standards, and are using an expedited procedure to limit the possibility to discuss the law.
Main issue with the law is the provision that Macedonian citizens who live abroad will also be registered, using an online application. This is a key request of the ethnic Albanian parties, who fear that due to high emigration levels, the Albanian share of population has dropped below 20 percent – a limit set in the 2001 Ohrid peace treaty as the threshold where additional voting rights in Parliament kick in for the Albanians.
VMRO-DPMNE said that if the opposition is not included in the making of the law, a boycott of the census is possible.
The 2011 census was interrupted mid work, after Albanian parties insisted that emigrants are counted as residents in Macedonia using the social media.
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