Overwhelming majority of voters support name deal in Macedonia’s referendum but turnout very low

Overwhelming majority of voters support name deal in Macedonia’s referendum but turnout very low
PM Zoran Zaev and his colleagues at a packed press conference after the vote. / SDSM
By Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje October 1, 2018

The vast majority of voters who cast a ballot in the crucial name deal referendum in Macedonia voted yes on September 30, but the turnout was low at just over 36%.

Around 91.4% of those who turned out to vote cast yes votes in the referendum, data from the state election commission showed after 97% of the votes were counted. However, only 36.8% of the 1.8mn voters cast their vote. 

The referendum was not an obligatory but a consultative one, so what is most important is that the majority voted yes. Nevertheless, a strong turnout would have helped Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to convince some MPs to vote in favour of the constitutional changes which are required for the full implementation of the name deal. So far Zaev, who needs the support of 80 MPs, has slightly over 70 MPs on his side.

The people were asked “Are you for Nato and EU accession by accepting the name deal between Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Greece?” The agreement with Greece was signed in June, following months of negotiations, with the aim of unblocking the process of Nato and EU integration. Greece has long objected to the use of the name “Macedonia” as it has a province in the north with the same name.

Without the deal, Macedonia is unable to become a Nato member or to launch EU accession negotiations. However for many people in Macedonia, the deal is unacceptable as the country is forced to change its name to North Macedonia for both international and domestic use, which will require constitutional changes.

As the results came through, Zaev called on the opposition to put aside party interests and to support the deal in the interest of all the country’s people.

However, the failure to meet the psychologically important threshold of 50%+ one vote means that it will be more difficult for Zaev to muster the two-thirds majority in parliament he needs for the changes to be passed. 

Experts said that it was difficult for the threshold to be reached taking into account that many people have emigrated from Macedonia in the last decade looking for better life, meaning they were not in the country on the day of the vote.

Most of the voters at polling stations were elderly people. The sunny day did not tempt younger voters to say yes or no to the deal.

Despite fears of potential unrest, voting went on calmly without major incidents.

Parliament to decide

Zaev, of the ruling Social Democrats, said after the state election commission counted most of the votes that the procedure for the implementation of the name deal will continue in the parliament if he gets support from the opposition. Should he fail to secure opposition support, he said that an early general election will be held by the end of November.

“Citizens decided that the country’s future is in the EU and Nato. The decision was not easy but must have been taken,” Zaev said at the news conference surrounded by members of his SDSM party

The leader of the main opposition party, conservative VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, said following the vote that the referendum was not successful as the threshold of 50%+ one vote was not reached.

His party is against the name deal, claiming it is capitulatory one and against the country’s national interests.

Mickoski, who did not cast his vote in the referendum, did not openly call for a boycott ahead of the vote under pressure from Western diplomats, but many opposition MPs announced before the vote that they would boycott it.

The VMRO-DPMNE leader also said previously that his party will not support constitutional changes if the threshold is not reached.

President Gjorge Ivanov, who is close to VMRO-DPMNE, said in an address to the UN General Assembly in New York last week that he would not cast a vote in the plebiscite, saying that the country was being asked to commit "historical suicide".

When the low turnout was revealed the Bojkotiram (Boycotting) movement, supported by the Levica party, called for a celebration in downtown Skopje.

Citizens of Macedonia remained as divided on polling day as they had been in the run-up to the referendum. “There is no chance for me to vote, as the agreement is against any legal standards and it is a humiliation for Macedonians,” one Skopje citizen said.

For another, it is the only chance for the country to get closer to the EU and to become the 30th Nato member, even though the deal with Greece is far from perfect.

Questions of identity 

If parliament passes the changes, then the deal should be sent to the Greek parliament for approval. Obstacles are possible in Athens as the Greek opposition is also against the deal as it does not want the term Macedonia to be included in the country’s new name.

But it is not only about the name for Macedonians. The deal also touches on part of the history and the national identity of Macedonians.

The key clause is Article seven of the agreement, according to which the terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonian” refer to a different historical context and cultural heritage for each country.

For the Social Democrat government the key achievement in the agreement is that the language will be called Macedonian and the people Macedonians/citizens of North Macedonia.

However, Macedonians will no longer be able to claim ties with ancient warrior Alexander Macedonian, more widely known as Alexander the Great, who in future will be referred to only as part of the ancient Hellenic civilisation.

Under the deal, the Macedonian authorities are obliged to put explainers on monuments to Alexander, his father Philip and mother Olimpias and other monuments associated with ancient Macedonia, stating that they belong to Hellenic culture. All historical texts in school books that are disputed by the Greek side will have to be revised.

International support 

Before the crucial vote, a dozen foreign politicians visited Skopje to support the government and to send encouraging messages to people to accept the name deal as good for the country’s Euro-Atlantic prospects. This came amid a renewed push for enlargement to the Western Balkans by the European Commission and some EU leaders. 

Foreign officials who visited Macedonia in the run-up to the vote include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.

Despite the low turnout, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn congratulated people in Macedonia on the yes vote in the referendum.

"With the very significant yes vote, there is broad support to the Prespa Agreement and to the country's Euro-Atlantic path," Hahn said in a tweet.

 

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