Skopje, 23 February 2024 (MIA) - President of the State Election Commission (SEC), Aleksandar Dashtevski, said there were eleven applications for presidential candidates so far, including Velo Markovski, Biljana Vankovska, Tome Nikolovski, Bujar Osmani, Gospodin Popovski, Maksim Dimitrievski, Stevcho Jakimovski, Arben Taravari, Gjorgji Manaskov, Mersiha Smailovikj and Zorica Cvetkovska. In addition, there is one application for independent MP. 

Dashtevski noted that the deadline for applications is March 8. 

According to him, all offices where signatures are collected opened at 8 am on Friday. The Sec departments and offices are located across 34 municipalities and operate every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Dashtevski told Telma TV on Friday that the SEC has so far not received any reports about inappropriate conditions from the candidates who are collecting signatures, noting that if there are such reports, they will be dealt with immediately. There are neither complaints about early start of the campaign, he added urging political parties to respect the procedures and the law.

As regards the Alliance for Albanians and the party's registration for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the SEC President said necessary documents will be requested from both the Court and the Central Registry.

"We will act in line with the law when registration to the SEC comes for the elections. We will request documents from both the Court and the Central Registry, they have the details in terms of the right party, and we have no dilemma here," said Dashtevski.

Since the campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections overlap, with regard to the election silence, Dashtevski reiterated that the SEC acts exclusively in accordance with the Electoral Code. 

"Article 69 of the Electoral Code regulates the issue of election silence, and the Regulation, as the most important act that applies to the elections, state that on April 22 at midnight, on April 23 and 24, until the ballot boxes are closed there will be a period of election silence. The law does not provide for situations where elections are held on the same day. In the first round, there will be election silence for the presidential elections according to the law and the Regulation," Dashtevski said. 

He added that the SEC will urge everyone not to abuse the campaign for the parliamentary elections during the election silence, i.e. to talk only about the parliamentary elections, and not the presidential elections.

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