{"id":8089,"date":"2024-05-08T12:33:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8089"},"modified":"2024-05-08T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:33:07","slug":"north-macedonia-holds-elections-dominated-by-eu-membership-path-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8089","title":{"rendered":"North Macedonia holds elections dominated by EU membership path, corruption\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSKOPJE, North Macedonia \u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Voters in North Macedonia were casting ballots on Wednesday in a parliamentary election and a presidential runoff dominated by issues including the country’s path toward European Union membership, corruption and the economy.<\/p>\n
The first round of the election for president, a largely ceremonial post, was seen as a barometer for the parliamentary vote. It gave a clear lead to Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the candidate backed by the center-right opposition, over incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, who is supported by the governing center-left coalition.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nGordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition center-right VMRO-DPMNE party, casts her ballot at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia, May 8, 2024.<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Siljanovska-Davkova garnered 41.2%, in the first round on April 24, compared to 20.5% for Pendarovski. The two had also squared off in the previous election in 2019, when Pendarovski won with nearly 54% of the vote. Turnout in the runoff must be at least 40% for the result to be valid.<\/p>\n
In the parliamentary election, more than 1,700 candidates are vying for the 120 seats in the unicameral assembly. There are also three seats reserved for expatriates, but in the previous election in 2020, turnout was too low for them to be filled.<\/p>\n
The monthlong campaign focused on North Macedonia\u2019s progress toward joining the 27-nation EU, the rule of law, corruption, fighting poverty and tackling the country\u2019s sluggish economy.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nA man casts his ballots during the parliamentary election and the presidential runoff, at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia, May 8, 2024.<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Skopje voter Atanas Lovacev expressed disappointment with the current government but had low expectations from whoever comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, [I expect changes], because the current government did nothing,\u201d he said. “But I don\u2019t expect anything either from the new government. \u2026 They all make promises, but the result is nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opinion polls ahead of the vote had consistently shown the center-right opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, at the head of a 22-party coalition called \u201cYour Macedonia,\u201d with a double-digit lead over the coalition \u201cFor A European Future,\u201d led by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, or SDSM.<\/p>\n
There are also two coalitions representing ethnic Albanians, who account for a quarter of North Macedonia\u2019s population. They include the European Front, led by the Democratic Union of Integration (DUI), which has been the coalition partner of all governments of the past 20 years. But VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski wants to ally with the VLEN (Worth) four-party coalition, which has positioned itself to the right of DUI.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nHristijan Mickoski, the leader of the opposition center-right VMRO-DPMNE party, casts his ballots at a polling station in Skopje, May 8, 2024.<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
North Macedonia\u2019s path to the EU is being blocked by neighboring Bulgaria, which demands that the constitution be amended to recognize a Bulgarian minority. And while the center-left has agreed to the demand, VMRO-DPMNE has denounced the government’s \u201ccapitulation [to] Bulgarian dictates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just over 3,500 people out of nearly 1.84 million identified themselves as Bulgarians in North Macedonia\u2019s latest census, in 2021.<\/p>\n
North Macedonia has been a candidate to join the EU since 2005 but was blocked for years by neighboring Greece in a dispute over the country\u2019s name. That was resolved in 2018, but Bulgaria is now the one blocking the process \u2014 it has said it will only lift its veto once the constitution is amended.<\/p>\n
Skopje resident Gordana Gerasimovski said she was disappointed that the country had been waiting for so long to join the EU, but hoped there would now be real progress.<\/p>\n
“We should have been part of European Union long time ago. This is what we are lacking, but we hope that the time will get us where we want to be for so long,” she said.<\/p>\n
EU membership negotiations with North Macedonia \u2014 and fellow-candidate Albania \u2014 began in 2022 and the process is expected to take years.<\/p>\n
Corruption is the other hot-button issue, with a European Commission report last year saying it \u201cremains prevalent in many areas\u201d of North Macedonia. In December, U.S. Ambassador Angela Aggeler said there was \u201can epidemic of corruption in this country that has affected every sector, every organization, and only by exposing the corrupt actors can we begin to help the country address these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mickoski has accused the ruling SDSM and DUI of a \u201ccorruption pandemic.\u201d Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski has said he is \u201caware that people are not satisfied\u201d and promised anti-corruption measures.<\/p>\n
More than 2,300 domestic and international observers were scheduled to monitor the election, according to the State Electoral Commission. Preliminary results were expected early Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Gordana](\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-2b9c-08dc6f563365_w250_r0_s.jpg\"\/)
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\n<\/div>\n![\"Hristijan](\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-b215-08dc6f5649cb_w250_r1_s.jpg\"\/)
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