What you need to know about the run-off in the local elections in North Macedonia

2025-11-01 15:53:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

What you need to know about the run-off in the local elections in North

The confrontations between VMRO-DPMNE and the National Alliance for Integration (AKI) in Kicevo, as well as between the Albanian coalition VLEN and AKI in Tetovo, but also the votes in Karposh and the City of Skopje, may depend on the votes of the candidates who lost in the first round. But the question is whether there will be public or secret cooperation between the parties and how convinced will these voters be?

Who will support whom in the local election runoff, and is it possible that the potential support between different parties will determine who will become mayor in a given municipality – is the main question on the eve of November 2, the day when 33 municipalities of North Macedonia, including Skopje, will elect their mayor.

In the first round of elections on October 19, all municipalities elected new councils, while mayors were elected in 44 of them. However, in municipalities that were considered the closest during the campaign and that aroused the greatest public interest, voters will decide on November 2.

Center and Karposh in Skopje, but also Kichevo, Tetovo, Struga and Kocani, are among the municipalities that political analysts mention as interesting to follow, and where voters of candidates who did not enter the runoff could be decisive for victory or overthrow.

How much do members listen to parties about who to vote for?

Analyst and president of the BIRS Institute, Xhelal Neziri, believes that it is difficult for parties to control voters and redirect them to whom to vote. According to him, this has been proven to not work even in the first round in municipalities where there have been public or secret party agreements for cooperation, therefore he estimates that it will be even more difficult to achieve this in the runoff.

"In the first round, it was much easier to direct votes towards candidates from other parties, because the composition of the councils was also voted on, that is, for the parties themselves. In the second round, votes are only cast for candidates for mayor, so it will be very difficult to convince voters to go out and vote blindly for a candidate who is not theirs," Neziri tells Radio Free Europe (REL).

However, there are several categories of voters, just as there are differences between parties – some control their members more, some less, believes political analyst Petar Arsovski.

“Kjo varet nga baza e partisë. Ka mbështetës partiakë që do të votojnë për kandidatin e partisë – këta janë ata që janë të përfshirë drejtpërdrejt në komunikimin me strukturat partiake lokale. Por, ka edhe simpatizantë që zakonisht votojnë për një parti të caktuar. Kur nuk votojnë për atë parti, qëndrojnë në shtëpi, dhe është e vështirë që ata të kalojnë nga një kandidat te tjetri”, shpjegon Arsovski për REL.

Ai shton se “vetë struktura e partive” ka rol, sepse tradicionalisht partitë e djathta dhe mbështetësit e tyre janë më të disiplinuar sesa ato të majtat.

Kërçova dhe Tetova – a do të bashkëpunojnë VMRO-DPMNE dhe VLEN kundër AKI?

Tetova dhe Kërçova janë qytetet që Arsovski i përmend si vende ku, pa koalicion ndërmjet partive, zgjedhja e kryetarit të komunës do të jetë e vështirë.

Në Tetovë, do të përballen kandidatët e dy blloqeve shqiptare – Bilall Kasami nga koalicioni qeverisës VLEN, dhe Bajram Rexhepi nga Aleanca Kombëtare për Integrim (AKI), e udhëhequr nga Bashkimi Demokratik për Integrim (BDI).

Dallimi në rundin e parë ishte më pak se 4.000 vota në favor të Kasamit. LSDM dhe VMRO-DPMNE nuk kishin kandidatët e tyre. E Majta (Levica) kishte dhe fitoi rreth 3.300 vota. Socialdemokratët deri tani nuk kanë dhënë mbështetje për asnjërin, ndërsa VMRO-DPMNE edhe në rundin e parë bëri thirrje të votohej për Kasamin, i cili është partner i tyre në nivel qendror.

Megjithatë, deklaratat ndërmjet dy rundeve nga përfaqësues të VLEN-it, përfshirë edhe vetë Kasamin, për zgjedhjet në Kërçovë, kanë lëkundur marrëveshjet e koalicionit brenda strukturës qeverisëse.

Në Kërçovë, qytetarët do të zgjedhin midis kryetarit të tanishëm nga BDI-ja, Fatmir Dehari, dhe kandidatit të VMRO-DPMNE-së, Aleksandar Jovanovski.

Kasami, i cili në një intervistë për mediat shqiptare aludoi për një mbështetje të mundshme ndaj Deharit, më pas u tërhoq, duke thënë se deklarata ishte keqinterpretuar dhe se ishte bërë në një moment kur kundërshtari politik po përpiqej të luante me kartën etnike.

Jovanovski i VMRO-DPMNE-së, i cili pas rundit të parë kishte rreth 6.000 vota më shumë se Dehari, në një fjalim publik falënderoi votuesit e opozitës LSDM dhe E Majta, ndonëse partitë, të paktën publikisht, nuk bënë thirrje për ta mbështetur.

Karposhi dhe Qendra – më të pasigurtat në Shkup

Përveç këtyre, një garë interesante pritet edhe në disa komuna të Shkupit.

Në Karposh do të përballen kryetari i tanishëm nga GROM, Stevço Jakimovski, dhe Sotir Lukrovski nga VMRO-DPMNE, i cili në rundin e parë kishte epërsi të ngushtë prej rreth 1.500 votash.

Kandidatët që u eliminuan deri tani nuk kanë dhënë publikisht mbështetje për asnjërin. Por, shifrat tregojnë se votat e tyre mund të ndikojnë në rezultatin përfundimtar. Kandidatja e LSDM-së mori 3.800 vota, kandidati i partisë E Majta rreth 2.800, ndërsa kandidatja e pavarur Nevena Gjorgievska rreth 2.600 vota.

In the Center, Goran Gerasimovski of SDSM entered the second round with a lead of about 2,800 votes over Miroslav Labudovi? of ZNAM. VMRO-DPMNE did not have its own candidate, but supported Labudovi?.

The Left has not yet spoken, while the United Independents, whose candidate Biljana Ivanovska received around 4,400 votes (20%), said they will not call for anyone, because "every voter is aware, responsible and has the right to decide for themselves."

“Support from those who were eliminated in the first round is important in both municipalities, but more important in Karposh. In the Center, Ivanovska voters are not affiliated with any party, and the difference between Gerasimovski and Labudovic is larger – it is not as narrow as in Karposh. So, in the Center the math is weak, while in Karposh it can make a difference ,” Arsovski explains.

The City of Skopje will also elect its mayor on November 2 – Skopje residents will vote between Orce Gjorgievski (VMRO-DPMNE) and Amar Mecinovic (The Left). Gjorgievski entered the second round with a lead of over 60,000 votes, but The Left and its candidate are calling for “collective action” and believe in an overthrow.

Who wins Kocani?

The tragedy in Kocani, where 63 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured in the "Pulse" nightclub in March, turned public attention to this city during the local elections.

In the runoff, the citizens of Kocani will choose between Venko Krstevski, an acting independent candidate, and Vlatko Grozdanov from VMRO-DPMNE. On October 19, Grozdanov won about 2,200 votes more than Krstevski.

SDSM, whose candidate Igor Hristov was in third place with 2,400 votes, has so far not come out with a public statement of support.

Transitional alliances, not permanent ones

Whatever the combination and cross-party support for the runoff, analyst Arsovski emphasizes that "transitional coalitions" should not be seen as a stable political determination.

"These are agreements that are made for a specific municipality, for a specific candidate, and they last as long as the local elections ," Arsovski emphasizes.

Of the 44 municipalities in the runoff, the most confrontations will be between VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM – in 16 of them.

The coalitions within the Albanian bloc, AKI and VLEN, will face off in three municipalities. In the remaining municipalities, these parties and coalitions will compete with other parties or independent candidates.

In four municipalities – Gostivar, Mavrovo-Rostushe, Vrapchisht and Qendër Zhupe, mayoral elections were canceled and new ones will be announced because the turnout threshold of at least one-third of voters registered on the electoral list was not reached. /REL