The right-wing opposition has clearly won the parliamentary and presidential elections in North Macedonia. With university professor Siljanovska-Davkova, a woman will now be at the head of the NATO state for the first time.
The right-wing opposition in North Macedonia has won landslide victories in both parliamentary and presidential elections. “Dear people of (North) Macedonia… we did it. Macedonia won. This is a historic victory for the people,” said VMRO-DPMNE party leader Hristijan Mickoski in front of hundreds of cheering supporters in front of the party headquarters Center of Skopje.
According to the electoral commission, his party got 42 percent in the parliamentary election after 72 percent of the votes were counted, while the ruling SDSM got 14 percent. SDSM party leader Dimitar Kovacevski then admitted defeat. “The result is disappointing and a big blow for the SDSM,” Kovacevski said at a news conference. He called for a fundamental realignment of his party.
In the runoff for the more ceremonial presidential office, VMRO-DPMNE-backed university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova defeated SDSM-backed incumbent Stevo Pendarovski. After more than 87 percent of the votes were counted, Siljanovska-Davkova was unassailable with 65 percent, ahead of Pendarovski with 29 percent. “I asked myself what I did to deserve this honor,” Siljanovska-Davkova said shortly after she was elected as the country’s first female president. “The honor is priceless for me, it is a great responsibility.”
Frustration over slow EU integration
Voters in the Balkan country with a population of two million are frustrated by the EU accession process, which has made only slow progress since 2005. North Macedonia’s lack of progress with EU integration is due in part to friction with neighboring EU members Greece and Bulgaria, but also to a failure to advance economic and judicial reforms.
Many people also complained that state institutions were increasingly failing to fulfill their duties and that poor administration, nepotism and corruption had become rampant. The economic situation is bad, the state treasury is empty, while mass emigration is leading to a dramatic decline in population and a loss of qualified workers.
“EU accession will not make much progress under a possible VMRO-DPMNE government,” said Mario Bikarski, Eastern and Central Europe analyst at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. The country joined NATO in 2020.