The nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE won the first round of the presidential election in a landslide last month and advanced to the second round, and is confidently contesting the parliamentary elections held at the same time.
Party leader Hristijanas Mickoskis refuses to recognize the new name of the country and the historic 2018. agreement with Greece that changed the country’s name from Macedonia to North Macedonia, resolving a long-standing dispute so that the country could join NATO.
Mr. Mickoskis also promises to stand firm in the dispute with Bulgaria over linguistic and historical issues that have caused Sofia to block North Macedonia’s EU accession talks for the past two years. Bulgaria is demanding that Skopje amend its constitution to recognize the tiny Bulgarian minority.
On Wednesday, polling stations opened their doors at 7 a.m. local time.
Mass emigration
“Victory is within reach and this is the result of all the suffering and humiliation this government has brought,” Mickoski told supporters at a rally in the capital. If his VMRO-DPMNE party wins a majority in parliament, he is likely to become the country’s next prime minister.
in 2017 after taking over the leadership of the right-wing party VMRO-DPMNE, Mickoski mobilized it, and its former leader and ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski fled a corruption conviction and was granted asylum in Viktor Orban’s Hungary.
Mr. Mickoskis also promised to create tens of thousands of jobs, a message that will appeal to voters who have been hit by weak economic growth and soaring inflation. Due to mass emigration, North Macedonia has lost about 10 percent of its population over the past two decades. population, young people have few opportunities.
According to analysts, VMRO-DPMNE has a significant advantage and the ability to further mobilize voters.
Albanian minority
Ahead of the vote, Mickoskis used increasingly aggressive rhetoric against DUI, the country’s largest Albanian party, fueling concerns that it could undermine fragile inter-ethnic relations. Albanians make up more than a quarter of the 1.8 million population. of the country’s population, and DUI leader Ali Ahmeti in 2001. led a brief armed rebellion for greater Albanian rights.
Since independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, successive governments have followed the unwritten rule that an ethnic Albanian party must be included in the ruling coalition. DUI, together with an alliance of minority parties, is likely to get the most Albanian votes, despite Mickoskis accusing its leaders of corruption. “When I tell the truth, they distort it as an attack on Albanians,” Mickoski said.
The ruling centre-left Social Democrats (SDSM) have warned that the election will determine whether Macedonia has a future in the EU, but they are struggling to regain the initiative after losing the first round of the presidential election. “These elections will fundamentally determine the future of Macedonia – whether we will move towards a progressive society, towards the EU, or whether we will go back to the past, when we were isolated and torn by ethnic conflicts,” warned former Prime Minister and SDSM leader Dimitar Kovačevski. SDSM links its political hopes with the aspiration to start negotiations with the EU and appease Bulgaria. The Social Democrats tried to amend the Constitution and recognize the Bulgarian minority, but they lacked the votes in parliament to approve it.
Tags: Important elections North Macedonia turn relations neighbors upside
