VMRO-DPMNE blames the Zaev Government of attempting to organize a census which will not take into account residency, but will include every citizen who was ever issued a citizenship number, including deceased and long term emigrants. Counting emigrants as residents is a key request of the Albanian parties in Macedonia, who prop up Zaev’s Government.

Zoran Zaev continues to redefine Macedonia which is becoming ever less recognizable to those who lived here all their lives. He is erasing Macedonian history, our name and language, and now he wants to pay another installment of his debt to his supporters. Nowhere in Europe will they run a census based on citizenship numbers. Zaev is pushing this option without consulting the opposition and against the standards put in place by Eurostat, VMRO-DPMNE said in a press release.

Albanian parties fear that the Albanian share of population may fall below the 20 percent line set in the 2001 Ohrid peace treaty as a limit when additional political and voting rights kick in. The 2011 attempt to hold a census was cut short precisely because Albanian parties insisted that emigrants are counted along with the residents. If the draft law is not amended, VMRO raised the possibility of boycotting the census.