Proper Information of Citizens Can Return the Trust in the Successful Implementation of the Census

“CSOs can contribute to educating the population on the census. We are conducting a lot of activities on educating about elections, but here I do not see anything similar. They can explain the population why everybody needs to participate. With more communication and more field work and in coordination with the State Statistical Office (SSO), we can increase the trust in the process”, stressed Aleksandar Krzhalovski, MCIC Director, at the Civica Mobilitas thematic forum on “Role of the Media and Civil Sector in Informing the Public for Successful Implementation of the 2021 Census”.

For Katerina Sinadonovska, President of the Council for Media Ethics in Macedonia, the information flow from SSO is very important. “The responsibility of the media, CSOs and institutions is big. The more real news given by experts, expert persons, the bigger the trust in the process”, she said.

Civica Mobilitas Thematic Forum took place on 20 April 2021 in a different, TV format, via the program “Program 200” on Alsat-M TV, whose host and moderator was the journalist Nazim Rashidi. Besides Krzhalovski and Sinadinovska, Apostol Simovski, the Director of the State Statistical Office also spoke, as there was a short interview with H.E. Sybille Suter Tejada, the Ambassador of Switzerland in the country.

Speaking about the role of the CSOs and media in informing about the census, the Ambassador Suter Tejada stressed that “they can intensify the discussion on the census and contribute that this sensitive issue is better understood by the citizens. The data of the census are not important only for the institutions, they are important for everybody”, said she. According to her, the media should distribute real information to the citizens and in this way fulfil the rile that they should have.

When asked if he could guarantee that by September, when the implementation of the census has been postponed to, all efforts will be undertaken to have a relevant process, director Simovski said that unless he guaranteed he would not be leading this institution. “I have been in this Office for thirty years and my basic profession is the census. The reason why I have accepted this function is to implement a really statistical census in this country”, he stressed. Simovski added that the citizens could be at peace because a manipulation with the ethnic affiliation figures cannot take place because the manner in which data are entered registers all changes.

Speaking about the lack of trust in the process, Simovski agreed that the politicians have hugely influenced the creation of such a perception in the public. Regarding the information course on the census so far, he stressed that he was happy with the electronic and printed media which positioned themselves correctly on the census. He recognized certain negative tendencies with part of the on-line media, although the approach was mainly correct. “We were maximally transparent as an institution and probably this transparency is being returned by the media”, said Simovski.

Sinadinovska added that the Council for Media Ethnics had not received a single complaint regarding the reporting on the census. “However, it is a fact that the main sources of information were the political parties and leaders. The focus was on the fact what the politicians had to say, rather than the experts”, she said. According to her, when it comes to restoring the trust, it is not the citizens, but the politicians who are the problem.

“I have supported the delay because of the pandemic, but I don’t think that anything will change unless there is work done on the awareness of the politicians and political parties who should become responsible”, she stressed and added that she did not see any political will but rather a drive to discredit the whole system.

Postponing the census and conducting it in September gives room for discussion and reaching a consensus among the political parties. “Unfortunately,” said Krzhalovski, “I don’t see any attempts to overcome the problems. For Civica Mobilitas, which works on improving the civic participation in policy creation, it is important to have a good cooperation with SSO”. He added that he expected a joint declaration by the political parties that the census methodology was accepted by all and he stressed once again that the CSOs want to get involved and help in the process of informing the public on the benefits of the census. This is in line with the concept for SSO promotion where, according to Simovski, it is planned to involve the local and national media, but also the CSOs. This promotion will take place during the summer if everything goes according to plan.

The new format of Civica Mobilitas thematic forum was made because of the pandemic that preferred the on-line discussion. The importance of the issue that was discussed provoked use to bring the discussion to the broader audience.

The complete programme is available HERE.