The conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE coalition in North Macedonia has declared a sweeping victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections. Preliminary results show the coalition winning 42.88% of the vote, amounting to over 356,000 votes counted so far. Their presidential candidate, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, won decisively with 64.80% of the vote.
The ruling Social Democrats, who have held power for the last seven years, secured only 14.82% of the vote. The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), led by Ali Ahmeti, followed closely with 14.30%, while the ethnic Albanian party VLEN took 11.21%.
The anti-Western Left party secured 6.87%, and the ZNAM party, led by former Social Democrat Maksim Dimitrievski, gained 5.26%. Other parties and lists won less than 1% each.
With roughly 1.8 million registered voters casting their ballots, North Macedonia also held a presidential runoff alongside the parliamentary elections. Voters chose 120 members for the unicameral parliament’s four-year term and selected the next president. Three seats are reserved for expatriates.
VMRO-DPMNE’s victory marks a significant political shift after nearly a decade of Social Democrat rule.
Photo: twitter/gogamkd