Photo: MIA

Polling stations will be open in Macedonia until 7pm Sunday in an early general election in which more than 1.7 million people have a right to vote. They will be electing 123 legislators from six electoral districts. Three more legislators will be elected from the votes in diaspora.

This is the ninth general election since Macedonia became independent in the 1990s and the fourth early election in a row.

The outcome will determine Macedonia’s course over the next four years as voters choose between two strongly opposed blocs, one centering on the VMRO DPMNE party, which has held power since 2006 and the other centered on the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM.

Opinion polls suggest Macedonia might be heading into one of the tightest electoral races in its democratic history. The gap between the ruling party and the opposition is narrow and the number of undecided voters remains high.

The election comes amid a prolonged political crisis centering on opposition claims that Nikola Gruevski, the former Prime Minister and head of VMRO DPMNE, masterminded the illegal wiretapping of thousands of people, which he denies.

In February 2015, the opposition began releasing batches of covertly recorded tapes, which it claims show the VMRO-DPMNE-led government was behind the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people, including ministers, politicians, businessmen, journalists, scholars and activists.

The opposition claims the tapes provide evidence that top members of the government were involved in serious illegality, including rigging the general and presidential elections in 2014, manipulating the justice system, intimidating and controlling the media, and covering up the murder of a young man by a police officer.

The election was postponed twice this year and was finally scheduled for December following the signing of an EU-backed agreement in the summer. This put in place an interim government, including ministers from the opposition, aimed at ensuring the elections were free and fair.

Holding free elections was also included in this year’s European Commission progress report on Macedonia as a prerequisite for the country’s further integration.

The nationalist VMRO DPMNE party claims the country’s crisis has been imposed by unnamed foreign services trying to destabilize Macedonia with the help of the opposition.

The Social Democrats have pledged to improve democratic standards, reform the economy and tackle high-level corruption and social injustice.

The outcome could well depend on smaller parties. A bloc of smaller centre-right opposition parties are aiming at a slice of VMRO DPMNE’s traditional voters, for example.

The ethnic Albanian vote could also be significant in determining the next government. Albanians make up around a quarter of the population and the party that wins their vote normally becomes a coalition partner in the government, potentially making them a kingmaker if the result is tight.

The current junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, this time faces a serious challenge among Albanian voters.

Apart from its traditional rival, the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, it will also confront several newer Albanian parties, such as BESA and the DPA – Movement for Reforms.

For the first time since Macedonia’s independence, the opposition Social Democrats have also set their sights on winning Albanian votes with pledges to tackle their social inequality.

The result will also likely determine whether allegations relating to the wiretapped recordings are ever fully investigated – and the speed at which any investigations move forward.



VMRO DPMNE, whose officials are most affected by the allegations, says it wants the investigations conducted by the Special Prosecution, SJO, to wrap up soon.

The Social Democrats have promised to prolong the deadline for the SJO, which expires next year, so that it can fully investigate all alleged crimes.

Due to fears of possible rigging and election incidents, voting will be monitored by over 4,500 domestic and foreign monitors from NGOs, the OSCE/ODIHR and from foreign embassies.