General election in Macedonia 2008
In the elections to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia on June 1, 2008, almost 1.8 million residents were entitled to vote.
requirements
18 parties, alliances and civic groups ran for the early elections. They became necessary because the Albanian Democratic Party ( DPA ) left the coalition in March. The reason was the refusal of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to recognize Kosovo . The Albanian minority makes up around 25% of the country's population .
The unicameral parliament of Macedonia ( Macedonian Собраніе , Albanian Kuvendi ) is elected for four years. 1,540 candidates applied for the 120 seats.
Polls and election campaign
In the polls before the election, the national conservative ruling party VMRO-DPMNE and several small parties allied with it led with around 31% of the votes . The incumbent Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski announced that he would continue to govern with his former coalition partner, the Albanian Democratic Party ( PDSH ). In surveys, Menduhi Thaçi's PDSH was around 6%.
The greatest adversary of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE was the Social Democratic League of Macedonia ( SDSM ) headed by the former Vice Prime Minister and European Minister Radmila Šekerinska . In 2005, it achieved that the EU granted Macedonia candidate status. During the election campaign, Šekerinska promised to fight for a date for accession talks within six months, but did not succeed.
The election campaign was overshadowed by a large number of violent attacks. An attack was carried out on the chairman of the Democratic Union for Integration ( BDI ), Ali Ahmeti , and numerous BDI party offices were destroyed. Ahmeti accused the rival PDSH and "Interior Ministry structures" for this. The BDI headquarters in Skopje was shot at on election Sunday ; According to the party, one man lost his life. In 20 polling stations in the predominantly Albanian areas, the vote had to be broken off due to attacks. There the election had to be repeated. The EU Commission was "very concerned" about the incidents.
Election result
Prime Minister Gruevski's alliance was able to increase its share compared to the last election in 2006 by more than 16% and received 48.8% of the vote. With this result, which is surprisingly clear in relation to the polls, it achieved an absolute majority of seats in parliament. The Social Democrats lost well with around 23.7%. The Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) won 12.8%, the Albanian Democratic Party (PDSH), which was previously allied with Gruevski, won 8.5% of the vote. The turnout was 57.1%.
After counting all votes, the result was the following:
| Electoral alliance / party | Seats |
|---|---|
| Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) | 63 |
| Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) | 18th |
| Social Democratic League of Macedonia (SDSM) | 27 |
| Albanian Democratic Party (PDSH) | 11 |
| Party of the European Future | 1 |
| total | 120 |
Reactions
The Office for Democracy and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitored the election with 309 observers in the country. With regard to the acts of violence, she announced after the polls that the parliamentary election did not meet international standards.
Prime Minister Gruevski announced after the elections that he would continue to govern with an Albanian coalition partner. The decision as to which of the two major Albanian parties would be offered entry into the cabinet was initially dependent on how the parties would react to the re-election in the constituencies affected by violence. Finally Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE formed a coalition with the previously opposition Albanian party BDI. Six weeks after the election, the prime minister presented his new cabinet.
The small Albanian party PDP ( Party for Democratic Prosperity ), which had received 0.7% of the vote in the election, merged with the PDSH shortly afterwards.
Radmila Šekerinska, chairwoman of the SDSM, congratulated the winners, but warned that they had now taken on a “huge burden and responsibility”. Ms. Šekerinska referred to the victims on election day and said: "The price we paid during the election was too high." Two days after the election, she resigned from her party's chairmanship.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results according to the election commission ( memento of the original from January 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Election in Macedonia did not meet international standards ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Basler Zeitung, June 2, 2008
- ↑ Official election result ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , State Election Commission
- ↑ According to the OSCE, the election did not meet international standards Der Standard, June 2, 2008
- ^ Absolute for Prime Minister Gruevski Die Presse, June 3, 2008
- ^ Head of government presented new cabinet Der Standard, July 15, 2008
- ^ DPA join forces with PDP , MINA, June 3, 2008
- ^ Conservative ruling party wins parliamentary election Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 2, 2008
