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The citizens of North Macedonia elect the new president and Parliament

2024-05-08 07:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The citizens of North Macedonia have started voting on Wednesday morning to elect the president and the new Parliament of the country in double elections.

About 1.8 million citizens of North Macedonia have the right to vote in these two elections: the second round of the presidential elections, as well as in the parliamentary elections.

These are the first double elections held in this country since the establishment of democracy in the 90s.

17 parties and coalitions participate in the race for the new Parliament. The main battle takes place between VMRO DPMNE and SDSM in the Macedonian camp, while in the Albanian camp between the European Front, led by the Democratic Union for Integration, and the opposition coalition VLEN.

In the ranks of the European Front, five political parties of the Turkish, Roma and Bosnian ethnic communities compete.

The elections are held with closed lists, according to the proportional system in six electoral units and, in each of them, 20 deputies are elected.

The Parliament of North Macedonia has 120 seats.

Albanian parties will fight the main battle in electoral units one, two and six, where the Albanian population lives.

Based on the polls, and in particular in the first round of the presidential elections held on April 24, VMRO DPMNE is the favorite for a deep victory in these elections.

The race for president between Davkova and Pendarovski

On Wednesday, there are two candidates running for president, the winner of the first round, Gordana Silanovska-Davkova of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, and the incumbent, Stevo Pendarovski, who is supported by the ruling Social Democratic League.

In the first round, Davkova won 363,000 votes, or 40 percent - while her opponent Pendarovski about 180,000 votes, or 19 percent.

For the presidential elections to be successful, in addition to one of the two candidates having to win the majority of the citizens' votes, it is also required that at least 40 percent of the citizens registered in the Electoral List, or about 725,000 voters, turn out to vote. .

If the 40 percent threshold for the election of the president is met, the Parliament must hold the session for the inauguration of the new president of the Republic until Sunday, May 12. In this case, the ceremonial session for the inauguration of the new president would be held by the outgoing deputies.

However, according to the chairman of the State Election Commission (SEC), these deadlines until May 12 can be respected only after the SEC has announced the final results of the presidential elections, namely if there are no complaints about the election process.

"The presidential candidate who wins the elections must make a solemn declaration before the Assembly and, according to the Constitution, it can be made before the old parliamentary composition. The old parliamentary composition has such a right, given that we also have parliamentary elections. Then, the new president will set the mandate to form a new Government," says Novakovski.

What will happen if the electoral threshold is not reached?

In the event that the turnout in the second round of the presidential elections is lower than the 40 percent threshold - which has not happened so far - the Constitution provides that the powers and functions of the president will be taken over by the speaker of the Parliament.

Without the electoral threshold, the option is to appoint the representative for the formation of the new Government by the outgoing Speaker of the Parliament, Jovan Mitrevski, and the second option is to first constitute the new Parliament and the new Speaker of the Parliament to give the mandate to the leader of the party that won the majority of 61 deputies for the formation of the new Government. Novakovski says that without the electoral threshold of 40 percent, the State Election Commission considers the presidential elections unsuccessful and within 40 days, the Parliament must announce new presidential elections.

SEC final results usually come faster if there are no complaints from candidates and political parties. If there are objections, the final results are published after all legal mechanisms for this case have been exhausted.

The new Parliament of North Macedonia must be constituted within 21 days from the announcement of the final result of the elections by the State Election Commission.

The May 8 election is the 11th since the country's independence and the seventh presidential election overall. The electoral process takes place in 3,480 polling stations, while their progress is monitored by 1,300 local and 860 foreign observers./ Rel