Macedonia’s Ahmeti Clears Up Head Count Muddle

The head count is the first to take place in Macedonia for almost one decade and is due to commence on October 1, running until  October 15.

Some NGO’s have called on ethnic Albanians who have lived abroad for some time to come back so that the number of registered Albanians in the country would be greater.

“The census is not a contest between Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Roma or Vlachs in the country” Ahmeti told media on Tuesday, “there is no need for politicizing the census”.

He repeated Janevska’s explanation that according to the rules applied by the European Statistical Agency, Macedonian citizens who have been living abroad for more than a year should register there.

“This law [on census] has been debated for six months and its preparation included international experts. The law is very clear regarding who and what should be registered” Ahmeti said.

Ahmeti’s DUI is the junior ruling partner in the government led by the centre right VMRO DPMNE party.

Meanwhile, the Census Commission’s head, Vesna Janevska urged Albanians living abroad not to answer appeal warning that many would not be eligible to register if they did make the journey.

On Sunday, a representative of the Association of Albanian NGOs in Macedonia, KOSH, told the Macedonian based Iliria News Agency, INA that everyone needed to get back to Macedonia for the count.

“We call on all immigrants to come home and use their right to register because this is a historic moment,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying. He added that this especially applied “to those who have not visited Macedonia for years”.

Macedonia has already postponed its head count once this year. It was originally planned for April. It was put off after an early general election was announced for June, amid increased political and ethnic tension surrounding the logistics of a carrying out a census at the same time.

Earlier this year some opposition ethnic Albanian parties suspected that the census was deliberately slated for April in order to forge results and decrease the number of Albanians. They urged for a census during the summer when the diaspora is usually in Macedonia on vacation and can take part.

Macedonia’s last population census took place in 2002, one year after the signing of the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord, which ended a short-lived armed conflict in the country between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the security forces.

The results of the census showed that 64 per cent of the population was Macedonian and 25 per cent were ethnic Albanian. Roma, Turks, Serbs and other minorities made up the rest.