In North Macedonia, the right-wing nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE achieved victory in both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Their candidate, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, won the presidency with 65.1% of the vote, defeating incumbent Stevo Pendarovski in the second round of the election, who received 29.2%.
The VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition also secured 43.32% of the parliamentary votes, translating to 58 out of 120 seats. In an unexpected turn of event, the DUI-led “European Front” coalition defending Albanians’ interests in North Macedonia arrived second, securing 19 seats, just in front of the 18 seats of the SDSM-led coalition, marking an end to SDSM’s seven-year tenure in power.
VMRO-DPMNE leader and expected future Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski stated his intention to form a coalition government with the Albanian VLEN block, which obtained 13 seats.
The State Election Commission declared the elections fair and democratic amid voter concerns over inflation and corruption. As expected, voters did not flock to the polling station, with a turnout in the presidential election of 46.38%, and the parliamentary turnout at 53.41%.
For more information on the parties and their orientation, check out our dedicated article.
