Local elections in North Macedonia / Over 85% of votes counted, here's who's leading

2025-11-02 21:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Local elections in North Macedonia / Over 85% of votes counted, here's

Citizens in North Macedonia voted in the second round of mayoral elections in 33 municipalities, including the capital, Skopje.

With over 85% of votes counted, the ruling party, VMRO-DPMNE, is leading in 19 of the 33 municipalities where local election runoffs were held, according to data from the State Election Commission.

Among the places where this trend is leading is the capital Skopje, but also Ki?evo and Ko?ani, as well as the capital's municipalities, Karpoš and Aerodrom.

Meanwhile, his partner in government, the Albanian coalition VALEN, leads in five municipalities: Bogovinje, Brvenica, Dibër, Dolneni and Tetovo.

Candidates from the opposition SDSM lead in Skopje Center, as well as in Krusevo, Zërnovci and Makedonska Kamenica.

The country's Central Election Commission said voter turnout was around 45 percent.

Over one million citizens had the right to vote.

The polls, which opened at 7:00 a.m. and closed on time at 7:00 p.m., were held peacefully without any incidents, Macedonian authorities said.

In the City of Skopje, candidates from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE and the Left party competed.

A total of 474,000 eligible voters in Skopje on November 2nd had the right to decide by circling the number on the ballot who will succeed the current mayor, Danela Arsovska, an independent candidate previously supported by VMRO-DPMNE.

In 16 municipalities, voters chose between candidates from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE and the opposition Social Democratic League of Macedonia (SDSM).

These were the most numerous political clashes in the second round and will provide a response to the capacities of the opposition SDSM, which won only three municipalities in the first round, compared to 33 that the ruling VMRO-DPMNE won. These are 16 municipalities in the central and eastern parts of the country.

The municipalities of Skopje, Qendra and Karposh, but also Kicevo, Tetovo and Struga, as well as Kocani, were part of the municipalities that political analysts saw as interesting to monitor and where voters of candidates who did not reach the second round could be decisive for who wins./rel