VMRO-DPMNE announces the victory of the parliament and the presidency

2024-05-08 22:43:28, Kosova & Bota CNA

In North Macedonia, at 7 o'clock in the evening, the ballot boxes for the parliamentary elections and the runoff for the president of the country were closed. The right-wing VMRO-DPMNE appears to have achieved a landslide victory, as predicted.

The VMRO-DPMNE party says it has secured 58 of the 120 seats in the parliament, but this cannot be confirmed by the relevant authorities nor by the other parties participating in the elections. VMRO has also declared victory in the presidential elections, with its candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, who party exponents say received 67 percent of the vote.

In the Albanian political camp, both rival coalitions have announced their victory. The Democratic Union for Integration with the European Front coalition says it is the absolute winner of the elections, but without specifying the number of votes or seats in the parliament yet.

Meanwhile, the VLEN coalition, which has also declared absolute victory, assesses the voting process as undemocratic, with irregularities and vote buying, as it threatens that "there will be responsibility for the violation of the vote", as stated by Izet Mejhiti of this coalition in a press conference after the polls closed.

VMRO-DPMNE says that the government's scenarios for the boycott of the presidential elections failed, for which it especially accuses DUI, whose future it sees in the opposition.

Although the results have not yet been officially announced, it seems that the Social Democratic League is the big loser in these elections. According to some predictions, she may have secured between 24 and 26 seats in parliament,

The May 8 elections are seen as a test for the future and the path of this country towards the European Union. Meanwhile, in settlements inhabited by an Albanian majority, an almost twice lower interest in the run-off compared to the parliamentary elections was observed.

However, the State Election Commission (SEC) announces that the necessary threshold of 40% of voting participation has been reached, for the presidential elections to be called valid. Over 46 percent is the representation in the runoff, while for the parliamentary elections it is over 53 percent. These data are not final because they have not been fully processed and they can vary by 2-3 percent, according to the SEC.

Albanian political rivals, the European Front and VLEN have clashed during the campaign over who should become part of the new government. VLEN has received a public invitation from VMRO-DPMNE to join the expected government cabinet, while DUI and the European Front claim that the winner of the 'Albanian block' should represent the will of Albanians in the executive power. However, DUI violated the 'winner with winner' principle in the 2017 elections when it entered the government coalition with SDSM, although VMRO had won the elections.

The election process was followed with interest by foreign observers and hundreds of other local observers.

"We have more than 300 observers spread throughout the country, this is an important presence. We are accompanied by our parliamentary partners" , said the head of the ODIHR Mission, Jillian Stirk. The ODIHR and the observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament will make a preliminary statement on Thursday regarding the election process on May 8.

The law enforcement agencies announced small incidents in several municipalities such as hanging banners and distributing leaflets or agitation in Tetovo, Skopje, Kumanovo and some other settlements./ VOA