Weekly Briefing, Vol. 27, No. 1 (MK), March 2020
Early elections postponed amid state of emergency due to COVID 19
On the 22d of March 2020, the Government announced its decision to delay the early Parliamentary elections that had been scheduled to take place on the 12th of April. As stated in the official announcement: “a decree with legal force to suspend all electoral activities and all issues related to the electoral process was adopted at a meeting on 21 March”.[1] The decision was preceded by two events: a leaders meeting and the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency.
On the 17th March a Leaders meeting was hosted by President Pendarovski, including representatives of seven political parties, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Talat Dzaferi as well as the Technical Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski. Following the meeting it was announced that a unanimous cross-party decision had been reached to postpone the elections in light of the spread of the coronavirus across the country. However, it was also reported that disagreements remained between the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE and the ruling SDSM over whether to declare a state of emergency (the option preferred by the SDSM) or a state of crisis (the option preferred by the VMRO-DPMNE). Specifically, the leader of the VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickovski argued against the need to declare a state of emergency. He said that “It is important to note that the Constitution envisages only a state of emergency and not a state of crisis. But, what is also important is that the state of emergency is not regulated by law. The methodology, the responsibilities and the steps that would need to be followed in a state of emergency are not regulated by law. However there is a Law for dealing with crises, and in the past this law was applied for instance in response to the floods in Skopje and around the country in 2016[2].”[3] Nonetheless this proposal failed to win approval across the political spectrum, especially in light of the constitutional constraints. Namely, in cases when Parliament had already been dissolved (as it had been the case here since the 16th of february), the only legal way to postpone elections is under conditions of State Emergency.
Thus, it could be argued that there are three main reasons why the state of emergency had been declared at a stage when the number of cases had not yet reached alarming levels (42 confirmed cases on the 18th of March). Firstly, this was a way to anticipate a peak that would coincide with the elections a month away in mid April. Secondly, declaring a state of emergency was the only constitutionally viable way to postpone the elections. Thirdly, in the context of the corona crisis another justification for delaying the elections was to prevent the health crisis from becoming another pre-electoral battlefield and to allow all political energy to be focused on fighting the epidemic. Previously in early March the opposition VMRO-DPMNE accused the Government for “an insubstantial response” to the growing crisis.[4] In reaction to the accusations, the SDSM responded with a statement saying “VMRO-DPMNE should stop chasing political points and creating a public hysteria at a time when all the institutions and all the citizens are focused on dealing with the coronavirus”.[5] Thus, postponing the elections was also a means to avoid the continuation of the ping pong political fighting characteristic of pre-electoral periods, and to allow for the attention to be focused on fighting the spread of the coronavirus.
Thus, on the 18th of March, the Government sent an official request to the President asking him “to declare a state of emergency in order to allow for the successful and efficient response to the threat posed by the coronavirus”[6] On the same day, President Stevo Pendarovski declared a state of emergency based on Article 125 of the Constitution which stipulates the possibility that the President can sign a Decree to declare a state of emergency across the whole country in cases when Parliament is unable to convene. The justification given by the President was as follows: “I made the decision to declare a state of emergency for protection and dealing with the consequences of the spreading COVID-19. The state of emergency will last for 30 days and once the Parliament is able to convene, it will be submitted for Parliament’s confirmation. Before the expiration of the 30 days’ time frame, I expect the Government to submit to me a detailed report for the effects of the measures that had been taken and a reasoned proposal for the need of potentially extending the state of emergency for additional 30 days.”[7]
Moreover, in the same statement he announced that the elections would be postponed: “This is a possibility for us to demonstrate in reality that when it comes to such hazardous matters, with no precedent for our country and citizens, all of the political parties will work together for the protection of people’s health and will not be preoccupied with their political ratings. In this situation the elections scheduled for 12 April will have to be postponed and the parliamentary elections would be called when there would be conditions for people to vote in a fair and democratic manner.”[8] According to the President, the fact that it was the first time that the country imposed a state of emergency since its independence in 1991, was a demonstration of the complexity of the situation and the big risk for all brought on by the COVID 19 epidemic. Information was not revealed regarding the date when the new elections would take place. Instead, it was only announced that the procedure for announcing the new date would start following the cessation of the State of emergency by a decree issued by the Technical Government led by Oliver Spasovski.
Immediately after the declaration of a state emergency several measures were also announced. Firstly, a curfew – to be in place everyday starting 22 March from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m- was imposed as a protection measure against the virus outbreak. Additionally, on weekends the hours of the curfew were extended to last from 16:00 until 5:00 am. The curfew rules were also differentiated depending on age groups. Citizens over 67 are not allowed outside their homes after 11:00 am (until 5 am). Additionally, teenagers under 18 are not allowed to leave their homes before 12:00 am. These measures were presumably taken following recommendations from the Ministry of Health and the Committee for Infectious Diseases. Its reported aim was to prevent contacts between the groups that are likely to be asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus, such as young people, and those that are most vulnerable to it, elderly and immunocompromised people. According to the exceptions, the curfew does not apply to persons in need of urgent medical help, or those who are in a life threatening situation and special social categories such as medical personnel.
As the restrictions and rules increased so did the need to uphold their observance. Thus, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Radmila Shekerinska announced that “The army will be very directly involved in supporting all state institutions in dealing with the effects of coronavirus and will be at the forefront of protecting citizens’ health wherever it is needed”.[9] Additionally, she added that in order for the Army to be fully in support of the various state bodies, an operational headquarters was established between the police and the Army, to define precisely the ways in which the Army will assist the police. The three ways in which she said that the army will support the police is: to take control from the border line from the border police in order for more policemen to be able to fulfil duties arising from the coronavirus; to support the mobile missions run by the police aimed at checking the areas put under quarantine; to take charge of the physical protection of vital objects that had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
In spite of the justifiability of the curfew in the context of the pandemic, there were also those who opposed it. The concerns expressed mainly on social media related to fears that States of emergency can also be used as a rationale or pretext for suspending rights and freedoms guaranteed under a country’s constitution or basic law. Indeed, one of the first measures imposed by the curfew was to restrict the freedom of movement, which is a constitutional right guaranteed in Act 27 of the Constitution.
The state of emergency represents not only a period in which special measures have been put in place to tackle the coronavirus. It can also be viewed as an extraordinary situation whose daily outcomes will depend on the effective and efficient coordination between various institutions. As such it will surely represent a litmus test for the capacity of the state and its various institutions to manage specific crisis situations, to communicate and streamline their various operations and decision making process, as well as to locate the specific weaknesses and possible strengths that emerge out of the specific challenges faced and their resolution.
[1] Government has adopted a decree with legal force to suspend all electoral activities and all issues related to the electoral process available at https://vlada.mk/node/20643
[2] “Floods across Macedonia in 2016 an 2018, (un)learnt lessons” available at: https://www.novamakedonija.com.mk/pecateno-izdanie/%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8-2016-2018-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8/
[3] “The elections have been postponed” available at: https://www.slobodnaevropa.mk/a/30493210.html
[4] “They have thought of a PR slogan but no real measures of substance” https://republika.mk/vesti/makedonija/mickoski-slogan-za-pi-ar-smislija-ama-merki-sushtinski-nema-barame-da-se-vrazumi-vladata-i-da-ja-prifati-podadenata-raka/
[5] “SDSM to the opposition: All suggestions can be delivered through Chulev. Do not raise party-political hysterics.” Available at: https://makfax.com.mk/makedonija/%D1%81%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BC-%D0%B4%D0%BE-%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0/
[6] “Press Conference by PM Oliver Spasovski” available at: https://vlada.mk/node/20579
[7] “Decree for State of Emergency – Addressing remarks by President Pendarovski” available at: https://www.president.mk/en/decree-for-state-of-emergency-addressing-remarks-by-president-pendarovski/
[8] “Decree for State of Emergency – Addressing remarks by President Pendarovski” available at: https://www.president.mk/en/decree-for-state-of-emergency-addressing-remarks-by-president-pendarovski/
[9] “The army directly will support all state institutions” available at: https://vlada.mk/node/20649