Skopje, 10 September 2021 (MIA) – Authorized representatives of all political parties, i.e. the holders of the local elections candidates lists, will sign the Code for fair and democratic elections at a central level by Sept. 23 at the latest. The signing of the Code is organized by the State Election Commission (SEC) in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute (NDI). SEC member Boris Kondarko told a public session on Friday the signing and promotion of the Code for the local elections will take place on two levels. One level will be directly organized by SEC though its municipal election commissions. “Candidates in all municipal election commissions will sign the Code, which is important for the areas in which they run as candidates for their voters and for the campaign they will lead in presenting themselves before their electorate,” said Kondarko. At the second or central level, SEC and NDI will organize the signing of the Code by Sept. 23 at the latest. Authorized representatives of all political parties, i.e. holders of the lists, will be invited, and the public will be informed about additional details on the event. “In line with our schedule and the provisions of the Electoral Code, it is within our competence and duty as SEC to adopt the Code for fair elections, which will apply to all participants in the elections,” Kondarko pointed out. He noted that the text of the Code is a standard one from the previous elections, and it binds all participants to behave correctly, with their activities in the election process in accordance with all practices, to affirm and increase trust in the election system and election bodies, to respect the Electoral Code, and thus contribute to the overall positive image of the organization and conduct of the elections. In addition, the Code lays down that the behavior of all participants will not pose any threat, and no citizens will suffer any consequences for their support or no support of a particular political option or candidate. Kondarko pointed out a novelty in the text of the Code is that it binds all candidates to refrain from using hate speech and any discrimination on any grounds, particularly gender. “We believe that with the Code, we as SEC, in addition to our legal obligation, in this way urge that, despite daily politics that is inevitable in every election campaign, the basic values of democracy, rule of law and fair and democratic behavior of all participants in the election process are maintained, because in addition to the organization of the elections by us, the election bodies, the participants themselves give their mark on the image of the elections with the manner of their behavior and the way of conducting their campaign,” he added. Kondarko pointed out that SEC is committed to elections held in the spirit of the Code for fair and local elections. At Friday's session, the SEC, among other things, adopted a draft rulebook on performing video surveillance in the State Election Commission. “SEC staff together with an authorized officer for personal data protection, based on an already prepared analysis of the purposes of the video surveillance, I propose that we adopt a rulebook on performing video surveillance in the State Election Commission, in the offices of SEC, in capacity of technical measures, which are applied to ensure confidentiality and personal data protection,” SEC vice-president Ditmire Shehu said.