There has been no progress in the talks of the work groups with the EU and US ambassadors. Party sources reveal that the SDSM party is the one holding back negotiations. SDSM is putting forth suggestions that astonish the rest of the participants. The Electoral Roll and the media issue are two topics which are slowing down negotiations.
SDSM insists for media houses which are not up to their standards to be sanctioned, while VMRO-DPMNE is firmly against this. The ruling party's stance is that it will not allow any media or journalist to be punished for voicing a stance or information.
Apparently, SDSM no longer insists on passing of a new media law, but instead it speaks of reforms after the ambassadors pointed out that media activity during election period is clearly indicated in the Electoral Code, for which SDSM voted in Parliament.
In regards to the Electoral Roll, it will obviously be reviewed again, even though it is clear that it has been checked and purged already. This will be done so as to appease SDSM.
Despite the fact that SDSM wants the Electoral Roll to be checked again, it does not point out any concrete facts or any voters that that are suspicious.
Before the cancellation of elections, through a majority vote, the State Election Commission confirmed that the Electoral Roll is revised, but this did not please SDSM. Now, it wants a checkup of about 70,000 voters that have valid driver's licenses, but are not registered in most of the databases.
SDSM also has an issue with around 30,000 voters which were not present in their homes during the field checkup, even though the checkup was not obligatory.