A vote that was held in Skopje’s parliament last Monday regarding the referendum in FYROM saw the government’s proposal to hold a referendum on 30 September come to pass.
A majority of parliament ary members voted in favour of the proposal, which Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said will “define the future of the Republic of Macedonia”.
This referendum will then see the people of the nation voting if they “are in favour of NATO and EU membership, by accepting the agreement between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia.”
The proposal for the referendum was highly criticised by the opposition, VMRO-DPMNE, whose deputies refused to participate in the vote in order to show their disapproval.
The nationalist party finds the question too vague, arguing that the country’s bid for a NATO and EU membership and their agreement with Athens for a name change are two topics that shouldn’t be linked. Speaking to the media, deputy head of the VMRO-DPMNE party, Alexandar Nikolovski, stated that: “The question should be understandable, simple… It should state ‘Do you support or oppose the agreement with Greece which envisages a name change.'”
In regards to the referendum, shortly after the date was ratified in parliament, the FYROM Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Services issued a statement in regards to how all mass media should behave in the days before the crucial vote. More specifically, the announcement made by the agency’s director Zoran Trajcevski said that all media outlets will be expected to “assume the role they have in a democratic society, i.e. abide by the principles of fair, balanced and impartial reporting, while creating conditions for equal access of all stakeholders to media.”
Trajcevski went on to state that official recommendation guidelines will be given out by 17 August and that any and all political surveys must be completed up to five days before the referendum takes place. All political advertising regarding the referendum will cease two days before the crucial vote.