Macedonian Code of Conduct Asks ‘What Mark Will We Leave?’

While political party leaders are often quick to affix their signatures to codes of conduct for democratic elections, it is their behavior during campaigns – the degree to which actions mirror commitments – that matters. Macedonian citizens have seen adherence to codes of conduct improve over eight elections in the past decade.

The latest campaign kicked off May 12, as NDI organized a public signing ceremony to launch a code of conduct for snap parliamentary elections on June 5. Though not legally binding, the document was signed by leaders of 38 political parties who pledged to respect all politicians’ freedom to campaign. The president of the national assembly, the president of the state electoral commission, representatives from civil society and heads of foreign missions attended the ceremony, which received wide coverage in the media.

The code calls for parties to respect the electoral law and foster a tolerant campaign atmosphere free of violent or intimidating rhetoric, fraud, bribery and proxy voting with the goal of encouraging a fair, peaceful, transparent and accountable election process.

“The Code of Conduct campaign is built on a commitment to stamp out bribery, intimidation, family voting, proxy voting and ballot staffing,” said Chris Henshaw, NDI’s resident director in Macedonia. “With the support of political parties, citizens and our campaign partners, the goal is to achieve respect for the universal democratic principal of one person-one vote.”

The code’s slogan, “What Mark Will We Leave?” asks political leaders, by affixing their mark, or signatures, to the code, to accept primary responsibility for seeing that it is fully applied and fair elections take place. The code is the eighth NDI has sponsored in Macedonia since 2002. The Institute was joined in this effort by its local partners, the Institute for Parliamentary Democracy, the Macedonian Women’s Lobby, domestic election monitoring organization MOST, and Metamorphosis, a civic group focused on technology issues.

It was a comprehensive media campaign in advance of the 2008 elections that demonstrated the power of the press to spread awareness about the code across the country and motivate leaders to conform their actions to its standards. Accompanied by voter education, the media campaign established the idea that politicians’ actions need to reflect their words.

Chris Henshaw (center), NDI's Macedonia director, celebrates the signing of the code with political party presidents.

During this election cycle, NDI is working with Metamorphosis on a media campaign to raise public awareness of the code, using a web portal (www.ferizbori.mk and www.zgjedhjetedrejta.mk) and social networking sites, such as Twitter (@slobodnifer and @teliratedrejta) and Facebook, to reach younger audiences in Macedonia’s growing online community.

The code’s website includes an interactive map that tracks citizens’ comments and photo evidence of misconduct. NDI’s team in Macedonia will use this information to pinpoint trouble spots and then work with political parties to step up their internal controls to ensure compliance with the code.

These elections represent a pivotal moment for Macedonia, which became a candidate country for membership in the European Union in 2005. The country’s ability to meet international standards for democratic elections and establish a legislature fully independent of the executive branch are fundamental to demonstrating its democratic credentials for EU membership.

The political scene has recently been marked by heightened tensions and increasingly antagonistic relations between the government and opposition parties. The call for these early elections was precipitated by an extended opposition boycott of parliament.

NDI is supporting Macedonia through election and legislative strengthening programs. The latter will resume after the elections to bolster parliament’s role as an independent institution with oversight authority over the executive branch.

NDI’s programs in Macedonia are funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The campaign for fair and democratic elections “What Mark Will We Leave?” is funded by USAID and the U.S. Embassy with complementary funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the web presence.

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Pictured above: The logo and slogan for this year's code of conduct campaign, which asks "What Mark Will We Leave?"

Published May 24, 2011. Updated May 26, 2011.