Members of Parliament voted today with the bare minimum majority of 61 votes to approve the law on the 2021 census in its first reading. According to the law, the much delayed census will begin on April 1 2020.

The process is highly controversial as it will allow the registering of citizens who live abroad for an extended period of time. Ethnic Albanian parties have insisted on this clause – under the 2001 Ohrid peace treaty an ethnic community that constitutes more than 20 percent of the population is guaranteed greater voting rights and other forms of political influence, and Albanians hover around that number and rely on their large diaspora to reach the “magic” number. 

According to the law, citizens living abroad can have people close to them give their data to the census workers and will be counted in the census. Deputy Interior Minister Agim Nuhiu, who is an ethnic Albanian, said that the law fully protects the interests of citizens who live abroad.