North Macedonia: Who will the Albanians vote for?

2024-05-04 08:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

North Macedonia: Who will the Albanians vote for?

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Who will support whom and where will the votes go in the second round of the presidential elections of the candidates who did not enter the second round? For now, no party has announced whether it will call its voters to support Pendarovski or Siljanovska. VMRO-DPMNE publicly complained that so far they have not received support for Gordana Siljanovska Davkova from any of the opposition candidates. "Until today, we have no support for Gordana Siljanovska Davkova from the opposition candidates. This means that either they do not have a basic feeling for the state or they unconsciously work for the power", emphasizes Aleksandar Nikolloski, vice president of VMRO-DPMNE.

The candidate for president from the ranks of SDSM, Stevo Pendarovski, has said that he will not ask for the votes of other candidates. "I don't think I should address other political entities, especially those that had candidates who did not pass the second round. I don't like this math and this way of distribution from you to me," Pendarovski said.

But exactly the votes of the Albanian parties will decide in the second round of the presidential elections, this time mostly for completing the census of 40%. For now, both VLEN and DUI say that the party bodies have not yet made a decision on which presidential candidate they will support in the second round.

Calculations have begun on who will be in the new government

As for the campaign for the parliamentary elections, three days before the end of the campaign, the political parties focused on who will be part of the next government. Bilall Kasami from the Albanian opposition coalition VLEN estimates that this coalition has the legitimacy of Albanian voters and therefore should be part of the future government.

"We strongly believe that after May 8, the VLEN coalition as part of the government will be at the service of citizens and at the service of businesses in order to stop the exodus of youth and citizens towards the west," said Bilall Kasami from VLEN.

DUI estimates that it meets all the conditions to be in the government

Bujar Osmani from the European Front is of the opinion that during the formation of a government it should be taken into account that in addition to the majority of 61 deputies, the majority of Badinter is also needed. Without this double majority, a stable government cannot be formed and there cannot be a functioning parliament.

"The European Front, in addition to guaranteeing stability and coexistence, this coalition will also provide the two basic conditions for the formation of the next government, the majority of 61 deputies and the majority of Badenter", stated Bujar Osmani from DUI.

VMRO-DPMNE: We will form the government coalition with VLEN

VMRO DPMNE has announced itself as the winner of these elections, and has even determined the parties that will be part of the new government. Macedonian opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski has said that the party he leads will be a double winner in the May 8 elections. According to him, the new government will be formed by VMRO-DPMNE and the VLEN coalition, which consists of Albanian opposition parties.

"For VMRO-DPMNE, the positions are very clear. I don't want to talk to the emissaries that DUI sends every day for a coalition with VMRO-DPMNE. DUI, for me, is a finished chapter and will go to the opposition" , Mickoski declared.

In North Macedonia, until 2017, there was an unwritten rule that governments were formed by the winning Albanian and Macedonian parties, regardless of their program orientations.

Gir: The election process should end with order and positive feeling

The EU ambassador in Skopje, David Geer, expects that the second round of the presidential elections and the voting for the parliamentary elections will pass smoothly and in a democratic atmosphere. "The OSCE/ODIHR mission published the report on the first round of the elections. The elections were mostly peaceful and in a democratic atmosphere and we really hope that the second round of the presidential elections and the campaign for the parliamentary elections will be positive, which will to enable the whole process to end with order and a positive feeling", stated David Geer, EU ambassador.

On Wednesday, May 8, the citizens of North Macedonia will vote in the second round for the presidential elections and at the same time for the parliamentary elections./ DW