Skopje, 18 October 2021 (MIA) – North Macedonia’s 17 October local elections were competitive and fundamental freedoms were widely respected, but numerous shortcomings in the legal framework underscore the need for a comprehensive reform, the head of ODIHR’s election observation mission Tana de Zulueta told a press conference on Monday. She said that numerous gaps in the law and legislative changes close to election day undermined legal stability and the largest parliamentary parties enjoy systemic advantages in the distribution of public resources for campaigning. “It was good to see a large number of candidates freely campaigning throughout the country. But it was apparent from our observation that the biggest parties have used the law to carve out a predominance in the political field. This clearly skews the system to their advantage,” de Zulueta told the presentation of preliminary findings and conclusions following the local elections in North Macedonia. She stressed that biometric voter identification was introduced in North Macedonia for the first time in these elections, and while the step was generally welcomed as a fraud-prevention measure, the timeline for its nationwide implementation lacked any pilot project or comprehensive testing. On election day itself, de Zulueta added, frequent problems with the biometric identification devices were noted. The opening and voting process, she underlined,  was positively assessed across the country, but there were issues such as group voting, as well as procedural errors during the counting and tabulation. In regard to amendments to election legislation, de Zulueta said that they had broad political support but were adopted only a month before the election with no public debate or consultation, which is not in line with international good practice. The election administration, she noted, met most legal deadlines and made efforts to adapt to several late amendments. However, its capacity and ability to carry out its work independently was strained by a lack of permanent staff and vacancies in key positions. Despite an active and generally peaceful election campaign, issue-based debates were overshadowed by increasingly negative rhetoric, which particularly targeted women candidates. Gender equality and women’s rights were largely absent from party campaigns, in which women also remained under-represented. While women comprised some 45 per cent of all councilor candidates, only 8 per cent of mayoral candidates were women. Observers also noted isolated cases of candidate intimidation, as well as allegations of pressure on candidates to withdraw and vote-buying. The mission also monitored media. According to de Zulueta, election legislation stipulates that all media outlets, including online media, cover the elections in a fair, balanced and unbiased manner. However, the head of ODIHR’s mission noted that the stringent regulation of news programmes by the public broadcaster during the campaign undermined its editorial independence. She added that paid media advertising during the campaign is funded directly and exclusively from the state budget, and its distribution provided a significant advantage to some parliamentary parties, which is not in line with international good practice. “ODIHR has repeatedly underlined the need for parliament to undertake a comprehensive reform to North Macedonia’s election legislation accompanied by meaningful public consultation. That would enable solid legislation to be passed that serves the people of this country,” de Zulueta said. The mission, she added, is continuing its observation now for the second round, assessing the extent to which the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. ODIHR’s Election Observation Mission to North Macedonia took up its work on 7 September with a team of 16 experts based in Skopje, and totals 165 observers from 29 countries.