Skopje, 10 August 2016 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services is opening, as of today, a public debate on the working version of the Methodology for Monitoring Media Coverage of Elections by the Radio and Television Programming Services during the 2016 Early Parliamentary Elections, which is available on the Agency’s website,
at this link. The debate shall last until 24 August 2016.
The Agency Council will discuss the draft-text of the Methodology at its 28th session, scheduled on 17 August 2016, while the public debate has started earlier with the aim of ensuring more time for all interested entities to submit their proposals. Those proposals and opinions that will arrive by 16 August will be presented to the Council on 17 August, while the ones that will arrive by the end of the public debate will be presented at the session at which the Council will adopt the final text.
The adoption of this document is a result of the latest amendments and supplements to the Electoral Code, based on the agreement reached among the four largest ruling and parliamentary opposition political parties in July 2016. The Law on Amending and Supplementing the Electoral Code (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No. 142/16) requires, in its Article 196-i, that the Agency amend the Methodology for Monitoring Media Coverage of Elections by the Radio and Television Programming Services During Electoral Processes, adopted by the Agency Council on 5 January 2016, within 30 days from the day the amendments to the Code were adopted. Considering that the current Methodology constitutes an extensive document applicable to all electoral processes, the Agency considers that, instead of amending it, it would be more expedient to prepare a new methodology that would be implemented only to the early parliamentary elections in 2016.
All proposals and opinions concerning the working version of the Methodology should be submitted to: contact@avmu.mk, by 24 August 2016, 16:00 hrs.