The Government Says the Electoral Code Is Being Negotiated, VMRO and SDSM Say Nobody Called Them

Over the past two days, two senior state officials told the public that the parties are negotiating over the Electoral Code. Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi said a representative of Levica had raised the issue and that the working group could continue if there is willingness. First Deputy Prime Minister Bekim Sali stated that efforts towards adoption are under way and that the new justice minister, Jeton Shasivari, is working on it.

Then somebody asked the parties. And the answer was that there are no negotiations whatsoever.

VMRO-DPMNE: no contacts. SDSM: no meetings

VMRO-DPMNE denied that there were "any contacts or initiatives on this". SDSM confirmed that there are "neither meetings nor invitations nor any announcements of them". These are the two largest parties - one in power, one in opposition. If they are not negotiating, the question is who exactly is being negotiated with.

Sali says the code had previously been unanimously accepted by several parties, "however at the last moment two political parties withdrew". So there was a deal, and it fell apart. That is the actual state of play, and it is a different thing from "in the negotiation phase".

13,500 amendments is not a detail

Adoption of the changes is blocked by around 13,500 amendments filed by SDSM and Levica. That is not a random figure - it is classic parliamentary obstruction, a technique both sides have used when they sat on the other side of the chamber.

The contested points are specific and old: electronic voting for Macedonians abroad, a change in how the ballot paper is marked, the structure of electoral districts, and limits on objections. Not one of these questions is new. All of them were open three years ago too.

The reform agenda had a deadline - and it passed

The Electoral Code was part of the reform agenda with a July deadline. July came and went. September is here. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski says he expects a joint position from the opposition - a formulation that elegantly lobs the ball back over the net.

Sali, for his part, recalls that the country proposed 25 points for implementing reforms and that the process should be accelerated through coordinated work. Coordinated with whom, if the two largest parties say nobody called them?

There is a difference between working on something and talking about working on something. The difference usually shows up in the calendar, not in the press release.