VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski sent a letter to the ambassadors representing the international factor in the country, referring to the census, local elections and the pandemic.
In his letter, Mickoski says that Macedonia, like the rest of the world, is facing a new wave of COVID-19. But at the same time, the country is at last in Europe in terms of the number of people vaccinated against coronavirus.
“The struggle with the difficult epidemic and the lack of vaccines, in combination with a census conducted on the ground, will create serious public health risks. I don’t doubt that we need a credible census, but this is not the time. We need to be focused on confronting the healthcare challenges we now face. Once the healthcare crisis is overcome, we can refocus on the census,” Mickoski said.
Mickoski points out that the problem in the lack of consensus on the issue of the population census is only within the government of Prime Minister ZoranZaev.
“Issues like the census, in a polarized society like ours, must be resolved by full political consensus. The lack of such a consensus lead us to a dead end, and the only solution that remains is to postpone the census.During these dynamic times, where the situation on the ground is changing on a daily basis, I am afraid that we are moving towards another major public health challenge. In this regard, the census could create new COVID-19 clusters,” warns Mickoski.
“If the census were to be postponed until September, it would leave time for the procurement of vaccines and vaccination of all enumerators, which will minimize the danger to public health. In order for the institutions to be able to fully dedicate themselves to the census, I propose that the local elections be held between November 1 and November 15,” reads Mickoski’s letter.
