The two main opponents in the first round of the presidential elections in Macedonia ("Northern Macedonia"), which took place yesterday, Stevo Pendarovski and Gordana Siljanovska, almost drew. According to the results announced by the National Electoral Commission of the country, with 98% of the votes counted, the first, the candidate of the ruling coalition, gathered 42,72% (317.690 votes), while the second, the candidate of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, received 42,6% (316.741 votes). The third candidate, backed by two Albanian opposition parties ("Alliance for Albanians" and "BESA"), garnered 10,3% (76.775 votes).
Stevo Pentarovski shortly before midnight claimed that in the first round of the presidential election, the choice that he envisions and wants, a society for all, prevailed.
He even expressed the certainty that this election will be rewarded in the second round and that "he will be the new president of the democratic, progressive and European Northern Macedonia".
Prime Minister Zoran Zaef congratulated Stevo Pendarovski on his victory, albeit by a small margin, in the first round of the presidential election and expressed confidence that the gap would widen in the second round, as - as he claimed - Pendarovski and the positions and They are progressive and unite the people, while Silianovska and VMRO-DPMNE express conservatism and divide the citizens.
Gordana Silianovska came second in the first round of the presidential election (photo: EPA / Nake Batev)
Gordana Silianowska welcomed the election result, saying that the government of Zoran Zaef had lost its legitimacy and that the possibility of calling early parliamentary elections should be seriously considered. VMRO-DPMNE leader Christian Mickoski claimed that the real winner in the first round of the presidential election was Gordana Silianovska and his own party, adding that the people had punished the government of Zoran Zaef for the ugly, as he described it, situation in the country. Mickowski expressed confidence that Gordana Silianowska will prevail in the second round of the presidential election.
The new (or the new) president of the country will be elected in the second round, on May 5, if the percentage of participation in the process exceeds 40%.
All possibilities seem possible. In the second round, 56-year-old Pendarovski, the country's national co-ordinator for NATO membership, and 65-year-old Silianovska, a professor of constitutional law at Skopje University, will face off.
In order for the presidential election to be considered valid, the turnout in the second round must exceed 40%. Otherwise, the elections will be canceled and new ones will be called. In yesterday's first round, the turnout was around 42%, the lowest of any presidential election in the country's recent history.
- Source: APE-BPE / N. Frangopoulos.