EU Ambassador Zbogar: Logical for census to be Delayed due to elections

According to EU Ambassador Samuel Zbogar, due to the decision on early parliamentary elections, it’s logical for the census to be delayed so that there’s no political influence. At Monday’s marking of European Statistics Day, he said he hoped the census would be held by 2021, when such a statistical operation would be held in other European countries, too, at the latest. Zbogar added that they’d understood that the technical preparations were being carried out in the best way possible. The Ambassador hopes that there will be political will, too, for the process to be carried out. In his view, the census will bring new data about how to best make public policies for the population, such as healthcare, education and waste management. The census, according to Telma TV, will be delayed until in April 2021. State Statistical Office Director Apostol SImovski held a meeting with PM Zoran Zaev. There is no room for the process to be held in next year’s autumn, after the elections, because 2020 is an election year, they agreed. The Office will file to the Justice Ministry a proposal by the end of the week requesting a delay.