Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SKOPJE388
2008-06-13 14:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:
MACEDONIA: SUPREME COURT SHOWS BIAS IN
how-toVZCZCXRO8796 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSQ #0388 1651405 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 131405Z JUN 08 FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7433 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0340 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2297 RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
UNCLAS SKOPJE 000388
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: SUPREME COURT SHOWS BIAS IN
RE-VALIDATING VOTING OF ELEVEN POLLING STATIONS ANNULLED BY
SEC; DPA GAINS MOST
REF: A. SKOPJE 361
B. SKOPJE 368
SUMMARY
UNCLAS SKOPJE 000388
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: SUPREME COURT SHOWS BIAS IN
RE-VALIDATING VOTING OF ELEVEN POLLING STATIONS ANNULLED BY
SEC; DPA GAINS MOST
REF: A. SKOPJE 361
B. SKOPJE 368
SUMMARY
1. (SBU) In a biased decision for which little justification
was offered, the Supreme Court overturned the State Electoral
Commission's (SEC's) decision to invalidate voting in 11
polling stations cited for fraud and/or violence in the June
1 parliamentary elections. The Court's decision decreases to
187 the number of polling stations that will hold re-runs on
June 15. While the decision affects relatively few (less
than 10,000) votes, the lack of impartiality is another
setback as Macedonia seeks to re-gain ground it lost in the
fraud and violence-marred June 1 elections. End Summary.
2. (SBU) The Supreme Court ruled late June 12 on all 97
appeals submitted by political parties against the State
Electoral Commission's (SEC's) decision to invalidate voting
in 197 polling stations from the June 1 early Parliamentary
elections. Ahead of the June 15 re-runs, the Supreme Court's
decision re-validated the voting in 11 polling stations
annulled by the SEC, and invalidated the voting in a single
additional polling station, bringing the total number of
polling stations for the re-runs to 187. Just under 162,000
voters will have the opportunity to vote in the re-runs, down
from approximately 170,000 in the 197 polling stations
invalidated by the SEC. Though the Supreme Court's decision
did not affect enough votes to ensure a parliamentary seat
for any party, ethnic Albanian party DPA gained more than
rival DUI: nearly 5000 votes compared to just under 2000 for
DUI.
3. (SBU) While the SEC was praised by ODIHR for its
"satisfactorily robust process" of reviewing political
parties' appeals and its generally impartial decisions, the
Supreme Court's decisions show a clear bias in favor of DPA.
The Court conducted its review in four panels of five judges
each. All of the overturned cases were the work of a single
panel, which provided little justification for its decisions.
Nine of the 11 polling stations had suspiciously high voter
turn-outs (all over 75%, some as high as 99%) as compared to
the national average of just over 58% for the June 1
elections. One of the re-validated polling stations was
cited for having forced out election observers, and another
was reported to the SEC by U.S. monitoring teams for serious
irregularities in the vote count. The panel released
information on only three of 11 overturned cases, stating it
did not see evidence of fraud in its review of the balloting
materials.
4. (SBU) Comment: While the number of votes covered in the
Court's decision is relatively low and likely to have a
limited effect on the overall election results, it
nonetheless is disappointing to see clear bias on the part of
state institutions as Macedonia seeks to regain ground lost
in the fraud and violence-marred elections of June 1. End
Comment.
Milovanovic
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: SUPREME COURT SHOWS BIAS IN
RE-VALIDATING VOTING OF ELEVEN POLLING STATIONS ANNULLED BY
SEC; DPA GAINS MOST
REF: A. SKOPJE 361
B. SKOPJE 368
SUMMARY
1. (SBU) In a biased decision for which little justification
was offered, the Supreme Court overturned the State Electoral
Commission's (SEC's) decision to invalidate voting in 11
polling stations cited for fraud and/or violence in the June
1 parliamentary elections. The Court's decision decreases to
187 the number of polling stations that will hold re-runs on
June 15. While the decision affects relatively few (less
than 10,000) votes, the lack of impartiality is another
setback as Macedonia seeks to re-gain ground it lost in the
fraud and violence-marred June 1 elections. End Summary.
2. (SBU) The Supreme Court ruled late June 12 on all 97
appeals submitted by political parties against the State
Electoral Commission's (SEC's) decision to invalidate voting
in 197 polling stations from the June 1 early Parliamentary
elections. Ahead of the June 15 re-runs, the Supreme Court's
decision re-validated the voting in 11 polling stations
annulled by the SEC, and invalidated the voting in a single
additional polling station, bringing the total number of
polling stations for the re-runs to 187. Just under 162,000
voters will have the opportunity to vote in the re-runs, down
from approximately 170,000 in the 197 polling stations
invalidated by the SEC. Though the Supreme Court's decision
did not affect enough votes to ensure a parliamentary seat
for any party, ethnic Albanian party DPA gained more than
rival DUI: nearly 5000 votes compared to just under 2000 for
DUI.
3. (SBU) While the SEC was praised by ODIHR for its
"satisfactorily robust process" of reviewing political
parties' appeals and its generally impartial decisions, the
Supreme Court's decisions show a clear bias in favor of DPA.
The Court conducted its review in four panels of five judges
each. All of the overturned cases were the work of a single
panel, which provided little justification for its decisions.
Nine of the 11 polling stations had suspiciously high voter
turn-outs (all over 75%, some as high as 99%) as compared to
the national average of just over 58% for the June 1
elections. One of the re-validated polling stations was
cited for having forced out election observers, and another
was reported to the SEC by U.S. monitoring teams for serious
irregularities in the vote count. The panel released
information on only three of 11 overturned cases, stating it
did not see evidence of fraud in its review of the balloting
materials.
4. (SBU) Comment: While the number of votes covered in the
Court's decision is relatively low and likely to have a
limited effect on the overall election results, it
nonetheless is disappointing to see clear bias on the part of
state institutions as Macedonia seeks to regain ground lost
in the fraud and violence-marred elections of June 1. End
Comment.
Milovanovic