North Macedonia elected its first female president on Wednesday, as the ruling Social Democratic Party suffered historic defeats in twin presidential and parliamentary elections.
Conservative supporter Gordana Silyanovska-Davkova, a 70-year-old law professor, received more than two-thirds of the votes in the presidential run-off and was declared the winner with nearly 65% support. “What could be a bigger change than electing a woman as president?” Silyanovska-Davkova told supporters of her party. “I’m going to take this big step, this step toward reform, with women.”
North Macedonia votes in presidential run-off and parliamentary elections
Incumbent Stevo Pendarovski conceded with just over 29% of the vote. Silyanovska-Davkova was backed by the conservative party VMRO-DPMNE, which largely supported public dissatisfaction with the country’s slow progress towards joining the European Union and economic decline. In the parliamentary elections, the VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition led with about 43%, but the Social Democratic Party-led coalition, which has been in power for at least seven years, struggled to hold onto second place with 14.8%, leaving certain groups with a slight lead. exceeded. A political party led by the Albanian ethnic minority party DUI.
On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, supported by the centre-right opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, votes at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia. Voters in North Macedonia were casting their votes at polling stations on Wednesday. The parliamentary elections and presidential run-off were dominated by issues such as the path to European Union membership, corruption, and the economy. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
Celebrations in the capital Skopje were muted by thunderstorms that caused power outages. Following the conservatives’ landslide victory, power-sharing talks will be held regarding control of the 120-member parliament. But Social Democratic Party leader Dimitar Kobachevsky, who served as prime minister from 2022 until early this year, acknowledged late Wednesday his party’s defeat in parliamentary elections and announced he would step down after the party elects a new leader. Siljanovska-Davkova’s victory makes her the first woman to hold the largely ceremonial presidential position since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
The month-long campaign focused on North Macedonia’s slow progress toward joining the 27-nation European Union, the rule of law, fighting corruption and poverty, and tackling the country’s flat economic growth.
VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mikkoski leads a 22-party coalition called “Your Macedonia” and has accused the opposition of incompetence and humiliation in trying to resolve the conflict with North Macedonia’s neighbors. He accused them of making compromises. Miccosukee, 46, told his supporters that the next conservative-led government will make fighting corruption a top priority. “Every last person who commits a crime and commits corruption will be held accountable,” he said. “The people taught the government the most important lesson and saved the country…We have regained hope and we have reason to celebrate tonight.” North Macedonia, a NATO member, has been a candidate for EU membership since 2005. However, this was hampered by a series of conflicts with neighboring countries Greece and Bulgaria and by slow progress on some reforms needed to promote membership.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are also seeking membership.
Gordana Gerasimovski, a resident of Skopje, said she was disappointed that her country had waited so long to join the EU, but was hopeful that real progress could now be made.
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“We should have been part of the European Union a long time ago,” she said. “This is what we’re missing, but I hope that over time we can get to where we’ve wanted to be for a long time.”
More than 2,300 domestic and international observers were authorized to monitor the election.
