Calls Grow for Macedonian Electoral Reform to Aid Diversity

A host of political parties in Macedonia are calling on Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to make good on a promise to scrap the country's six electoral units, making it easier for smaller parties to pick up seats in parliament.

The Democratic Renewal of Macedonia, DOM, a junior partner in Zaev's Social Democrat-led ruling coalition, added its voice last week as the main parliamentary parties prepared to discuss possible changes to the Electoral Law.

"We call on 'bigger' political parties that are negotiating the electoral model to stay true to their declared commitment to the democratisation of Macedonia," DOM, which has two MPs in the 120-seat parliament, said in a press release.

Similar calls have already been made by the New Social Democrats, NSDP, the ethnic Albanian BESA movement and a number of civic associations.

They say that making the whole country a single electoral unit would give smaller parties a greater chance of winning seats; under the current six-unit proportional system, introduced in 2002, each unit elects 20 legislators from party lists of 20 candidates.

This system splits the total vote count and often cost smaller parties seats.

Reforming the system, the smaller parties say, would drastically reduce their dependence on big political blocs to help them win seats, freeing them to pursue more authentic political platforms.

Campaigning for elections in 2016, Zaev's Social Democrats promised to scrap the electoral units, saying that though it may cost the big parties in terms of their share of seats it was necessary to improve democracy.

Resistance

But two other big parties are less enthusiastic.

VMRO-DPMNE, the main opposition party, said the idea had yet to be...

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