Opposition Candidate Wins First Round of North Macedonia's Presidential Vote

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the candidate of the right-wing opposition VMRO DPMNE party, soundly beat ruling party-backed incumbent Stevo Pendarovski in the first round of North Macedonia’s presidential elections.

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova celebrates her first-round victory on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

In a resounding first-round victory, the opposition VMRO DPMNE-backed candidate, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, took 40.08 per cent of the vote in Wednesday’s first round of presidential elections, far ahead of the incumbent, Stevo Pendarovski, endorsed by the ruling Social Democrats, who got 19.93 per cent.

The results came after more than 99 per cent of the votes werw counted. Since no candidate won more than 50 per cent, the two frontrunners will compete in a run-off on May 8, which will take place in parallel with a higher-stakes general election.

The result was “inspiring”, Siljanovska-Davkova said in a victory speech just before midnight.

She thanked VMRO DPMNE voters for their support but also those who voted for other candidates, pledging that if elected she will respect and cooperate with all political forces in the country.

“Everyone who truly wishes Macedonia well should come together, and we should not confine ourselves only to the frame of Macedonia, but should act regionally, to help each other and use all forms of cooperation,” she said.

In a late-night address, Pendarovski admitted that his result was “far from what was expected” but insisted that “from tomorrow, it’s a new day and we are starting from zero”.

Of the candidates attracting votes from the large ethnic Albanian community, Bujar Osmani, from the junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, bested his opponent from the joint Albanian opposition VLEN bloc, Arben Taravari. Osmani won 13.36 per cent while Taravari won 9.21 per cent.

Osmani said this clearly reflected the will of the Albanian people. But the Albanian opposition bloc declined to congratulate him. One of the leaders of the VLEN alliance, Bilal Kasami, claimed the DUI achieved its result fraudulently. “The DUI bought votes from vulnerable voters who are in need of money,” he said, without providing evidence.

Among the remaining three candidates, the mayor of Kumanovo and head of the recently-formed ZNAM party, Maksim Dimitrievski, had most reason to celebrate. He won 9.26 per cent of the vote, claiming fourth place overall.

Biljana Vankovska, candidate of the Levica (Left) party, won 4.55 per cent, while the mayor of Skopje’s Karposh municipality, Stevco Jakomovski, won just 0.9 per cent.

Out of 1,814,317 registered voters, 904,892 cast ballots, meaning that the turnout in the first round was 49.95 per cent.

The first round of presidential polls is expected to inform the outcome of the general elections, which will be held in two weeks’ time. VMRO DPMNE is seeking to defeat the Social Democrats, who have been in power since mid-2017.

In a speech on Wednesday night, VMRO DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski called on all the country’s other political forces and on undecided voters to unite behind him.

In a reference to the politically influential Albanian camp, Mickoski indicated that he favoured the VLEN opposition bloc, which he congratulated on its result, and called on it “not to let DUI get a good result” in the parliamentary polls in two weeks.