North Macedonia at the polls: The 7 candidates, the outsiders and the second round – kontranews.gr

The citizens of North Macedonia go to the polls today for the first round of the presidential elections.

The polls opened at 07:00 (local time; 08:00 Greek time) and will close at 19:00 (20:00 Greek time).

There are seven presidential candidates with outgoing Social Democrat Stevo Pendarovski and nationalist VMRO candidate Gordana Silianovska-Davkova leading in the polls.

The result of the first round of the presidential elections is expected to be reflected in the parliamentary elections on May 8, ahead of which, according to opinion polls, VMRO-DPMNE is ahead, and indeed by a large margin, of the ruling Social Democratic Party, without, however, looking like it is heading to form a self-governing government.

The seven candidates

• The current president of North Macedonia, candidate of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDSM), Stevo Pendarovski;
• Gordana Silianovska, of the right-wing opposition VMRO-DPMNE;
• Maksim Dimitrievsky, mayor of Kumanovo, leader of the newly formed “Know” party;
• Biljana Vankovska, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Skopje, candidate of the nationalist, pro-Russian party “Left”;
• Steftso Jakimovski, mayor of Karpos (large municipality of the urban complex of Skopje), leader of the small GROM party. Recently, the US announced that it is banning Stefso Jakimovski from entering its territory, citing his involvement in corruption cases;
• Bujar Osmani, the foreign minister of North Macedonia, candidate of the largest, co-ruling Albanian party DUI, led by Ali Ahmeti; and
• Arben Taravari, mayor of Gostivar, candidate of a coalition of four opposition Albanian parties, called “Worth”.

The agenda

Main topics on the pre-election agenda were the country’s European course, the rule of law, corruption and the economy. The EU accession is the most thorny issue, as, after the resolution of the naming problem with Greece, it is Bulgaria that vetoes, demanding that the existence of a Bulgarian minority in North Macedonia be recognized in the Constitution.

The 61-year-old Pendarovski has called for the necessary change in the Constitution, while the 70-year-old Silianovska-Davkova is asking for a new framework in the accession negotiations and is not publicly committed to constitutional changes. Corruption is also a burning issue, with both the main candidates fighting against it.

The… outsiders

Indicative of the situation is that one of the presidential candidates, the mayor of the city of Karpos Stevco Jakimovski, has been banned from entering the United States due to his involvement in corruption cases. However, no prosecution has been brought against him and therefore his candidacy was accepted. Silianovska-Davkova insists at every turn of her speech to underline the need for radical reforms

The list of candidates also includes law professor Biljana Vankowska, who is supported by the left-wing Levica, and Kumanovo mayor Maksim Dimitrievsky. Two members of the Albanian minority are also running, one of whom is Foreign Minister Buyar Osmani and the second is Arben Taravari who comes from an Albanian opposition party.

The second round

According to the polls, no candidate is expected to exceed 50% and the contest will go to a second round, which is to be held on May 8, together with the parliamentary elections. It is considered almost certain that the VMRO-DPMNE candidate Silianovska will be the first to cut the thread of the first round of the presidential elections, with the SDSM candidate Pendarovski second.

The two will face off in the second round of the presidential election, with 70-year-old Gordana Silianovska having the best chance of winning. However, in the second round an important role will be played by the attitude of the Albanian voters, in other words 25% of the electorate of North Macedonia. Pedarovski appeals to Albanian voters and can hope for re-election if they support him en masse.

The term of the outgoing president of North Macedonia, Pendarovski, ends on May 12.

Mr. Pendarovski was elected president of North Macedonia in May 2019, when he was the joint candidate of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDSM) and the co-ruling Albanian party DUI. She had prevailed in those elections over the candidate of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE Silianovska.