The post-election mathematics from polling stations and from the headquarters of the State Election Commission are going to be transferred to Parliament and the public has already begun to question whether the new MPs will remain loyal to their own parties, or will they move to other parties, or will they suddenly become “independent” and how much will all this cost? What is the going rate for MPs in the Macedonian Parliament?
The deadline for political parties to submit objections regarding the to re-vote in Tearce expired, so now, it is certain that VMRO-DPMNE won 51 seats, while SDSM won 49.
On social networks people are already actively talking about MPs from SDSM crossing over to VMRO-DPMNE, and MPs from DUI into Besa or vice versa, and for a certain price.
Колку оди килото комуњарски пратеници денес ? #МонизнствоСеКрчка
— clark kent (@Iva11ivavaKent) December 27, 2016
Кои вмровски пратеници први ќе се придружат на владата на СДСМ?
— mindрluмbеr (@mindplumber) December 27, 2016
ВМРО следниов месец ќе ги вложи сите напори, да ја докаже научната теза:
„Сé што не се купува со мали пари, се купува со големи пари“— Горан Бабиќ (@GoranBabik) December 26, 2016
Last year, “Deutsche Welle” reported that VMRO-DPMNE conditioned the loyalty of their MPs forcing them to sign promissory notes for a certain sum of money. Furthermore, they were also meant to have the signature of the guarantor of the note, as well as a blank resignation from their parliamentary function. If a MP is not obedient within the party, with the promissory note, he or she will be obliged to return the amount of money, or they will face a lawsuit.
“I signed a promissory note of 300,000 euros, the equivalent in denars. That party determines the amount. According to their explanation, that amount is how much it cost VMRO-DPMNE to invest in my election campaign”, explained at the time an MP to”Deutsche Welle”, adding that all these documents are kept at the headquarters of the party.
In the last parliament composition, three MPs, Ljubica Buralieva, Roza Topuzovska-Karevska and Solza Grcheva who were from opposition parties, SDSM and LDP, became independent MPs after they withdrew their resignations from parliament following the elections in April, 2014, which SDSM and the coalition did not recognize on the grounds that they were rigged.
The practice of buying Members of Parliament can be found in neighboring countries as well.
In Greece, in the 1990 elections, the right-wing New Democracy party won 150 votes in a 300-seat parliament. To form a government, the party needed one more MP. At the time, the Greek public speculated that the MP Theodoros Katsikis from Democratic Renewal, for a certain amount of money converted to New Democracy, where they then received the required majority of 151 MPs.
Similar situations also occurred in Serbia, though such speculation so far has never been proven.
Sanja Ivaĉikj, a correspondent from “Meta” in Serbia said that during the establishment of municipal councils, there had been many combinations of passing from one party to another, and it also happens in the National Assembly.
The way current political parties act, is authoritarian rather than ideological. It contributes to non-transparent candidates, buying votes, but also for the transfer of MPs from one party to another, or at a time of post-election coalitions that encourage confidence among citizens, said Alida Karakushi, a correspondent for “Meta” from Albania.
Kosara Beliknova, a correspondent for “Meta” from Bulgaria, said there are no explicit examples of buying MPs, but it does happen after elections where some members leave their original parties and become “independent”.
