2011 Macedonian parliamentary election

Last updated

2011 Macedonian parliamentary election
Flag of North Macedonia.svg
←  2008 5 June 2011 2014  →
All 123 seats in the Assembly
62 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
VMRO-DPMNE coalition Nikola Gruevski 38.9856−7
SDSM coalition Branko Crvenkovski 32.7842+15
BDI Ali Ahmeti 10.2415−3
PDSh Menduh Thaçi 5.908−3
RDK Rufi Osmani  [ sq ]2.672New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Sobranie2011.png
Results by constituency
Prime Minister beforePrime Minister after
Nikola Gruevski
VMRO-DPMNE 		Nikola Gruevski
VMRO-DPMNE

Early parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Macedonia on 5 June 2011, a year earlier than necessary. [1] [2] [3] All 123 parliamentary seats of the Sobranie were due for election, including the 3 seats provided for the first time for representatives of the Macedonian citizens living abroad: 1 from Europe, 1 from North America, and 1 from Asia and Australia. The decision of the ruling parties, the Christian Democratic VMRO-DPMNE and the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), to dissolve the Parliament and call for an early election was preceded by protests of the Social Democratic Union (SDSM), the major opposition party, and subsequent boycott of the Parliament by them, and by other smaller opposition parties.

Contents

Background

Parliamentary elections were due in mid-2012, after the ruling coalition of VMRO-DPMNE and DUI won over two-thirds of the seats in the 2008 elections. However, a bitter dispute between the ruling coalition and the opposition was triggered when a police-assisted raid of public revenue officers took place on 25 November 2010, on a group of related companies including a private TV station, three daily newspapers, and other companies, for alleged tax evasion offenses. The opposition claimed that the media were raided due to their anti-government inclination. [4] [5] The opposing SDSM organised a huge rally on 5 December 2010, in which, according to estimates of the organisers, some 50,000 marched on the main streets of the capital Skopje and in front of the Parliament building, demanding that charges against the companies and the managers be dropped, and early election. [6] However, the investigation continued, and on 24 December 2010 16 people were charged and detained for suspected tax evasion, abuse of office and money laundering, including the owner of the TV station and several executives. [7]

On 28 January 2011 the opposition SDSM decided to walk out of the Parliament in protest, citing lack of democratic capacity of the government, and demanding early election. [8] The move was followed by the smaller opposition parties in the Parliament – New Social Democratic Party (NSDP), New Democracy (ND) and the Liberal Party (LP). The Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) supported the decision, but they were already boycotting the Parliament since 2009. [9]

The ruling coalition initially rejected this request for early election by the opposition, citing strong public support according to the polls, and solid parliamentary majority as main reasons against the opposition's demands. But after a one-month standoff, during which the opposition SDSM lobbied the EU & US officials, foreign diplomats, and failed to participate in consensus-building on any major political issues, the Prime Minister accepted the request and announced on 23 February 2011 that early elections will eventually take place. [10]

After the failed attempts of the major parties to reach consensus on the changes of the electoral law and other demands of the opposition during March, [11] the Parliament was dissolved on 14 April 2011, and the election was called the next day, with the election date set for 5 June 2011. [12]

Electoral system

Important dates: [13]

After the official results are published, the President delegates the task of forming a government to the leader of the party or coalition which won most seats in the Parliament. That member has up to 35 days to negotiate with the different parties, and then present his or her government to the Parliament for a vote of confidence. The leader becomes Prime Minister once the government is approved (by a vote of simple majority).

Campaign

The parties, coalitions and independent candidates were required to submit candidate lists by 5 May 2011. Separate lists were submitted for each or any electoral districts. [13]

18 parties and coalitions submitted their candidate lists with 1,679 candidates in total. The two major parties both formed large coalitions.

VMRO-DPMNE

The VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition included 22 parties; VMRO-DPMNE, the Socialist Party of Macedonia, the Democratic Union, Democratic Renewal of Macedonia, the Democratic Party of Turks, the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, the Union of Roma in Macedonia, the United Party for Emancipation, the Party of Justice, the Party of the Democratic Action of Macedonia, the Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia, the Party for Integration of the Roma, the Bosniak Democratic Party, Democratic Forces of the Roma, Permanent Macedonian Radical Unification, the New Liberal Party, the People's Movement for Macedonia, VMRO–Democratic Party, VMRO-United, Fatherland's Macedonian Organisation for Radical Renewal–Vardar–Aegean–Pirin TMORO–VEP, Macedonian Alliance and VMRO– Macedonian

SDSM

The SDSM-led coalition consisted of 15 parties; the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, the New Social Democratic Party, the Party for a European Future, the Liberal Party of Macedonia, the Party for the Movement of the Turks in Macedonia, the Serbian Progressive Party in Macedonia, the Party for the Full Emancipation of the Roma of Macedonia, the New Alternative, the Union of Tito's Left Forces, the Movement for National Unity of Turks in Macedonia, the Democratic Union of Serbs in Macedonia, the Democratic Union of the Vlachs of Macedonia, the Party of Free Democrats, the Party of Pensioners of Macedonia and the Sandžak League.

New parties

Opinion polls

SourceDateParty
VMRO-DPMNE SDSM DUI DPA ND OM NDA LDP VMRO-NP Others
Dnevnik/Rating‡ [15] 15 Apr51321474332−4
AlfaTV/Pavel Šatev‡ [16] 15 Apr55311574332−4
Kanal5/Pavel Šatev‡ [17] 17 Apr5531157413211
ISPPI♦‡ [18] 18 Apr21.8%19.8%8.8%5.9%1.9%1.1%4.5%−1.2%−
NetPress/Progress♦‡ [19] 26 Apr19.1%20.3%8.2%5.4%2.2%1.4%3.1%0.2%1.8%37.5%
Dnevnik/Rating‡ [20] 26 May483513843324–

‡ The poll does not include the 3 seats from the diaspora.
♦ The poll does not represent number of parliamentary seats, only percentages of voters.

Result

Voter turnout was 63,48%. 7,851 accredited observers monitored the election, including representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, ODIHR, and others. [21] The election went smoothly and without incidents.

Only 5 parties and coalitions, out of the 18 listed on the ballots, managed to win parliamentary seats. Several parties that were represented in the previous parliaments didn't win any seats, including VMRO-NP, LDP, and others. [22]

The official final results are presented below. The main opposition coalition led by SDSM conceded the defeat and congratulated the winning coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE. [23]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
VMRO-DPMNE coalition 438,13838.9856–7
SDSM coalition 368,49632.7842+18
Democratic Union for Integration 115,09210.2415–3
Democratic Party of Albanians 66,3155.908–3
National Democratic Revival 29,9962.672New
VMRO – People's Party 28,2172.510New
New Democracy 19,9581.780–4
United for Macedonia 17,0811.520New
Liberal Democratic Party 16,5511.470–4
Dignity  [ mk ]8,8370.790New
Democratic Union of Albanians 4,5170.4000
Party of United Democrats of Macedonia 4,3950.390New
Social Democratic Union  [ mk ]2,2700.200New
Social Democratic Party of Macedonia 1,8070.1600
Democratic Right  [ mk ]1,5170.130New
National Democratic Union4700.0400
Party for Democratic Prosperity 2770.0200
European Party of Macedonia1300.010New
Total1,124,064100.00123+3
Valid votes1,124,06497.23
Invalid/blank votes31,9852.77
Total votes1,156,049100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,821,12263.48
Source: State Election Commission

Reactions and aftermath

In his election victory speech Gruevski said that in the next term the government "will work on attracting investments and creating jobs, on EU and NATO membership with our dignity intact, the fight against corruption, maintaining good multi-ethnic relations and supporting education, which is key to the future". [24]

In a joint statement, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle hailed the multiparty, transparent and well organized elections. [25]

EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso sent a message of congratulations to Gruevski on the election victory. [26]

On 6 June, a day after the election, Ljube Boškoski, the leader of the United for Macedonia was arrested on suspicion of illegal party financing and abuse of office. Allegedly, he received 130.000 Euro in illegal funding for his party's campaign. [27]

Most of the smaller parties did not win any seats in the parliament. Of the 18 parties and coalitions listed on the ballot, only 5 won any seats. The leaders of several of the parties that did not win any seats, including the Social Democratic Union  [ mk ], New Democracy, Democratic Right  [ mk ] and the Liberal Democrats, resigned in the days after the election due to the poor results. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VMRO-DPMNE</span> Macedonian political party

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, abbreviated as VMRO-DPMNE, is a conservative and the main centre-right to right-wing political party in North Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Union of Macedonia</span> Political party in North Macedonia

The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia is a social-democratic political party, and the main centre-left party in North Macedonia. The party is pro-European.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Union for Integration</span> Albanian minority political party in North Macedonia

The Democratic Union for Integration is the largest ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia and the third largest political party in the country. It was formed immediately after the country's 2001 armed conflict between the National Liberation Army and Macedonian security forces. NLA founder Ali Ahmeti has been the party's president ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Party of Macedonia</span> Conservative-liberal political party in North Macedonia

The Liberal Party of Macedonia was a conservative-liberal political party in North Macedonia. The party was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Its last chairman was Ivon Velichkovski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Party of Macedonia</span> Macedonian political party

The Socialist Party of Macedonia is a political party in North Macedonia founded on 22 September 1990 as a successor to the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia. The SPM proclaims itself to be a left-wing democratic socialist party. The SPM was part of the coalition governments from 1992 to 1998, led by the SDSM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VMRO – People's Party</span> Macedonian political party

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – People's Party, shortened as VMRO – People's Party and VMRO–NP, is a national-conservative political party in North Macedonia, founded by the former Prime Minister Ljubčo Georgievski, who split from the VMRO–DPMNE. The VMRO–NP was founded in Skopje on 4 July 2004. Vesna Janevska was elected as the party's first chairwoman. It is among the smaller parties of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikola Gruevski</span> 7th prime minister of North Macedonia

Nikola Gruevski is a former Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Macedonian protests, and led the VMRO-DPMNE party from 2004 to 2017. He is the longest serving post-independence Macedonian prime minister, serving more than nine years in office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 5 July 2006. The VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition emerged as the largest group in the Assembly, winning 45 of the 120 seats. Its leader Nikola Gruevski became Prime Minister after forming a coalition government with the Democratic Party of Albanians, New Social Democratic Party, Democratic Renewal and the Party for a European Future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 1 June 2008, after the Assembly voted to dissolve itself on 12 April 2008. The result was a victory for the VMRO-DPMNE-led alliance, which won 63 of the 120 seats in the Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democratic Party (North Macedonia)</span> Social-liberal political party in North Macedonia

The Liberal Democratic Party is a social-liberal political party in North Macedonia. The Liberal Democratic Party was launched in April 1997 as a merger between the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party. The first leader of the party was Petar Goshev from the Democrats, who was also the last president of the League of Communists of Macedonia. When the Liberal Party was re-established in 1999, a significant portion of the former Liberal Party remained in LDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Macedonian local elections</span>

The sixth local elections for the election of local mayors of the municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia and members of municipality councils were held on schedule in 2013. There were two large coalitions on the elections: the Coalition for a Better Macedonia led by VMRO-DPMNE and the Union for the Future led by SDSM. Also present on the elections was the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) and the Union of Roma Forces. There was also coalition made between the two major rival parties VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM in Kičevo and Struga municipalities against the ethnic Albanian candidates Fatmir Dehari and Ramiz Merko of DUI. There were two rounds in the elections on March 24, 2013 and April 7, 2013. The first round of elections were declared the most peaceful elections in the history of independent Macedonia without any serious incidents. The elections were however not untainted, as the situation in the Centar Municipality was labeled as undemocratic by the Macedonian opposition with several voters being labeled as questionable for having only recently received their national ID cards and not being actual inhabitants of this respective municipality. The elections in this municipality lasted for three turns and were monitored by the foreign embassies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoran Zaev</span> Former prime minister of North Macedonia

Zoran Zaev is a Macedonian economist and politician who served as prime minister of North Macedonia from May 2017 to January 2020, and again from August 2020 to January 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Macedonian general election</span>

General elections[a] were held in the Republic of Macedonia in April 2014 to elect the President and members of parliament. The first round of the presidential elections were held on 13 April, with incumbent president Gjorge Ivanov finishing first with 53% of the vote. However, as he did not receive the support of 50% of all registered voters, a second round was held on 27 April, alongside parliamentary elections, with Ivanov and the ruling coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE claiming victory as Ivanov was elected president and the VMRO-DPMNE won 61 of the 123 seats in the Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabinet of Nikola Gruevski IV</span>

The fourth Cabinet of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is the Republic of Macedonia Government cabinet announced on 19 June 2014. It is the 11th cabinet of the Republic of Macedonia. Gruevski's second cabinet was formed following the April 2014 election won by the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 11 December 2016, having originally been planned for 24 April and later 5 June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Macedonian protests</span>

In April 2016, protests began in the Republic of Macedonia against the incumbent President Gjorge Ivanov and the government led by the interim Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party. Referred to by some as the Colorful Revolution, the protests started after the controversial decision by President Gjorge Ivanov to stop the investigation of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and dozens of politicians who were allegedly involved in a wiretapping scandal. The demonstrations were organized by "Protestiram" and supported by a coalition led by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and other opposition parties, in addition to the newly formed Levica demanding that the government resign and be replaced by a transitional government and that the parliamentary elections planned for 5 June 2016 be cancelled, on the grounds that the conditions for free and transparent elections were not in place. The government and its supporters, who had organized pro-government rallies, maintained that the elections on June 5 were the only solution to the political crisis, with some observers blaming the opposition for creating a "Ukraine scenario" in Macedonia.

Storming of the Macedonian Parliament, also known as Bloody Thursday occurred on 27 April 2017, when about 200 Macedonian nationalists stormed the Macedonian Parliament in reaction to the election of Talat Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, as Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. It was the biggest attack in history on a Macedonian institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hristijan Mickoski</span> Prime Minister of North Macedonia since 2024

Hristijan Mickoski is a Macedonian politician and former mechanical engineer, currently serving as Prime Minister of North Macedonia, a position he has held since 2024. He is also a university professor and the party leader of VMRO-DPMNE. In 2016, Mickoski became the director of Power Plants of Macedonia, and in the period from 2015 to 2017, he was an energy advisor to prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and Emil Dimitriev. As the sole candidate, he was elected leader of VMRO-DPMNE at the party's 16th congress in Valandovo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

Early parliamentary elections were held in North Macedonia on 15 July 2020. It was originally scheduled for November 2020, but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called early elections after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on joining the European Union in October 2019. The election date was set for 12 April, but was postponed until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 North Macedonian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in North Macedonia on 8 May 2024. The slow pace of EU integration and corruption were the main issues during the campaign.

References

  1. ↑ "News – Macedonian PM to dissolve parliament". B92. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Macedonian move for early election in June". Reuters. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Macedonia's Gruevski proposes early elections date". SETimes.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Radio Free Europe:'Free Speech' Row In Macedonia After Police Raid TV Channel. 26 November 2010
  5. ↑ EUInside:What is going on with media in Macedonia? 1 December 2010
  6. ↑ Balkan Insight:Thousands Join Macedonia Opposition in Protest March. 5 December 2010
  7. ↑ SETimes:Macedonian police detain TV station owner. 26 December 2010
  8. ↑ EUInside:The Macedonian parliament was left without opposition. 28 January 2011
  9. ↑ SETimes:Macedonia's DPA to boycott parliament. 11 August 2009
  10. ↑ EUInside:Ruling parties and opposition in Macedonia get ready for early elections, 23 February 2011
  11. ↑ Balkan Insight:Macedonia PM, Opposition Fail to Reach Election Date Deal. 16 March 2011
  12. ↑ SETimes:Macedonian parliament dissolved. 15 April 2011
  13. 1 2 "ДИК – Одредени роковите за изборите". Alsat (in Macedonian). 16 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  14. ↑ Balkan Insight:New Macedonian Party Faces Daunting Odds. 29 March 2011
  15. ↑ "ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и ДУИ убедливо ќе победат на изборите". Dnevnik (in Macedonian). 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "Павел Шатев: ВМРО-ДПМНЕ би освоила 55, СДСМ 31 пратеничко место". AlfaTV (in Macedonian). 30 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  17. ↑ "Анкета Павел Шатев: ВМРО ДПМНЕ 55 пратеника, СДСМ 31". Kanal5 (in Macedonian). 17 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Анкета на ИСППИ: Разликата меѓу ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и СДСМ 2 процента". Dnevnik (in Macedonian). 18 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  19. ↑ "Анкета: Груевски не заслужува реизбор за премиер, СДСМ со повисок рејтинг од ВМРО-ДПМНЕ". Dnevnik (in Macedonian). 26 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "ВМРО-ДПМНЕ со 100.000 гласа предност пред СДСМ". Dnevnik (in Macedonian). 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  21. ↑ "Македонија гласа". Dnevnik (in Macedonian). 5 June 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  22. ↑ "State Election Commission of the Republic of Macedonia". Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  23. ↑ "Conservative Leader Claims 3rd Term in Macedonia". NPR . 6 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  24. ↑ "VMRO-DPMNE wins, opposition gains in Macedonian vote". SE Times . 6 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  25. ↑ "Dnevnik: Catherine Ashton, Štefan Füle hail conduct Macedonia's elections". Focus. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  26. ↑ "Message of congratulations to the Prime Minister of FYROM". Europa . 7 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  27. ↑ "Macedonian Police Arrest Top Government Critic". Balkan Insight . 6 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  28. ↑ "Numerous Mak Party leaders Resign..." MINA . 9 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.