Macedonia elections 2009

Last weekend Macedonia held presidential and municipal elections. Many watched these elections with apprehension, as irregularities in voting caused violent demonstrations during the last elections in June of 2008. This year the OHRID Institute together with the OSCE Mission in Skopje, implemented pre-election project named: Election Awareness and Party Responsibility 2009.

The ruling party's presidential Georgi Ivanov took a convincing lead in the first round of Macedonia's elections, with twice the number of votes as his nearest rival in early vote results. With 15 per cent of the ballots counted, Ivanov had 38.49 per cent, more than twice as much as his nearest rival. The turnout among the 1.8 million registered voters was 51.68 per cent, the election commission said. The Social Democrats' candidate, Ljubomir Frckovski had 18.4 per cent and was closely followed by the independent runner and controversial former interior minister Ljube Boskoski, with 17.3 per cent.

A second round will bring Ivanov and Frckovksi face to face on 5th April next.

Georgi Ivanov – VMRO DPMNE - political science professor at Skopje Law Faculty; a newcomer on the political scene. Ivanov’s biography states that he founded two NGOs, the Macedonian Law Studies Centre and the Institute for Democracy, Solidarity and Civil Society. The later is particularly active as a think tank, assessing contemporary politics in the country. He became best known for criticism of the Ohrid peace agreement, which ended the ethnic Albanian insurgency in 2001 by granting more rights to this community. He was especially against new territorial divisions agreed in 2004 – part of the decentralization plan envisaged in the 2001 deal. Ivanov reiterates regularly support for EU and NATO membership as Macedonia's strategic goals.

VMRO DPMNE [Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за македонско национално единство - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] centre-right; Christian Democratic orientation; supports Macedonia's admission to NATO and EU. The party, founded in 1990, sees itself as heir to the original VMRO, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, a 19th-century national liberation movement in the Ottoman Empire.

Ljubomir Frckoski – Social Democrats - former interior and foreign minister in the Social Democrat governments during the 1990s; teaches International Law and International Relations at the Faculty of Law in Skopje. As a politician and expert he participated in some of the most important events in Macedonia’s recent history.

Frckoski was one of the experts involved in preparing Macedonia’s first constitution in 1991. From 1990 until 1997, he was a minister in the Social Democrat government, as minister without portfolio until 1992, interior minister from 1992 to 1996, and then foreign minister from 1996 to 1997.

He has slated the government for alleged populism and nationalism, and for leading the country away from its strategic goals in EU and NATO. Frckoski belongs to the French Institute of International Relations, is a member of the International Law Association and is a former Secretary General of the Human Rights Forum. In 2002 he was elected a member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for the Council of Europe.

SDSM [Социјалдемократски сојуз на Македонија - Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia] centre-left; successor to the League of Communists of Macedonia. The SDSM is the leading opposition party, standing for liberal economic policies, a generally pragmatic approach and for co-operation with the international community. The Social Democrats are seen as moderates who take a conciliatory attitude towards ethnic minorities. With that in mind, they passed a law on decentralization that then opened the way towards eventual EU membership.

Overview of the elections: Macedonian Information Agency and BalkanInsight