2011 Macedonian parliamentary election

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.

2011 Macedonian parliamentary election

5 June 2011
All 123 seats to the Sobranie
First party Second party   Leader Nikola Gruevski Branko Crvenkovski Party VMRO-DPMNE SDSM Leader since 2003 2009 Last election 63 seats 27 seats Seats won 56 42 Seat change 7 15 Popular vote 438,138 368.496 Percentage 38.98% 32.78%
Results by constituencies and mandates allocated in each      VMRO-DPMNE      SDSM      DUI      DPA      NDR
Prime Minister before election Nikola Gruevski VMRO-DPMNE Elected Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski VMRO-DPMNE

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

• 120 Members of Parliament are elected in six electoral districts, yielding 20 MPs each by party-list proportional representation, using the D'Hondt method, with no election threshold.
• 3 Members of Parliament are elected in three electoral districts, one in each of: Europe-Africa, North & South America and Asia-Australia by party-list proportional representation. Macedonian citizens living in emigration in the respective geographic areas can vote in the Macedonian diplomatic offices. These three seats for representatives of the emigration were added to the electoral law in 2011, just before the dissolution of the Parliament.

Important dates:[13]

• The registered voters list must be checked and closed by the State Election Commission until 4 May.
• Independent candidates are allowed to participate, and have to collect 1,000 supporters' signatures between 25 April and 4 May.
• Participating parties, coalitions and independents must submit their candidate lists to the State Election Commission until 5 May.
• Election campaigns commence on 16 May and end on 3 June.
• Voting will take place on 5 June, while expatriates, disabled, military and prisoners vote one day earlier.
• The parliament must be constituted between 10 and 25 June.

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. Once the government is approved (by a vote of simple majority), he or she becomes Prime Minister.

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 from 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 Vlachs in Macedonia, the Party of Free Democrats, the Party of Pensioners of Macedonia and the Sandžak League.

New parties

• National Democratic Revival (Albanian: Rilindja Demokratike Kombëtare) is an ethnic Albanian party that was formed in March 2011. Its leader is Rufi Osmani, mayor of Gostivar and political activist since the 1990s.[14]
• Dostoinstvo (=Dignity) (Macedonian: Достоинство) is a new political party led by the former police general Stojance Angelov, formed in March 2011 by the members of the former homonymic NGO, uniting ethnic Macedonian veterans from the conflict of 2001.

Opinion polls

Source	Date	Party
		VMRO- DPMNE	SDSM	DUI	DPA	ND	OM	NDA	LDP	VMRO-NP	Others
Dnevnik/Rating^‡[15]	15 Apr	51	32	14	7	4	3	3	2	−	4
AlfaTV/Pavel Šatev^‡[16]	15 Apr	55	31	15	7	4	3	3	2	−	4
Kanal5/Pavel Šatev^‡[17]	17 Apr	55	31	15	7	4	1	3	2	1	1
ISPPI^♦‡[18]	18 Apr	21.8%	19.8%	8.8%	5.9%	1.9%	1.1%	4.5%	−	1.2%	−
NetPress/Progress^♦‡[19]	26 Apr	19.1%	20.3%	8.2%	5.4%	2.2%	1.4%	3.1%	0.2%	1.8%	37.5%
Dnevnik/Rating^‡[20]	26 May	48	35	13	8	4	3	3	2	4	–

‡ 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]

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
VMRO-DPMNE coalition	438,138	38.98	56	–7
SDSM coalition	368,496	32.78	42	+18
Democratic Union for Integration	115,092	10.24	15	–3
Democratic Party of Albanians	66,315	5.90	8	+1
National Democratic Revival	29,996	2.67	2	New
VMRO–People's Party	28,217	2.51	0	New
New Democracy	19,958	1.78	0	–4
United for Macedonia	17,081	1.52	0	New
Liberal Democratic Party	16,551	1.47	0	–4
Political Party Dignity	8,837	0.79	0	New
Democratic Union of Albanians	4,517	0.40	0	0
Party of United Democrats of Macedonia	4,395	0.39	0	New
Social Democratic Union	2,270	0.20	0	New
Social Democratic Party of Macedonia	1,807	0.16	0	0
Democratic Right	1,517	0.13	0	New
National Democratic Union	470	0.04	0	0
Party for Democratic Prosperity	277	0.02	0	0
European Party of Macedonia	130	0.01	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	31,985	–	–	–
Total	1,156,049	100	123	+3
Registered voters/turnout	1,821,122	63.48	–	–
Source: State Election Commission

Reactions and aftermath

In his election victory speech, Mr. Nikola 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 Mr. Nikola Gruevski, the current Prime Minister and leader of VMRO-DPMNE 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, New Democracy, Democratic Right, and the Liberal Democrats, resigned in the days after the election due to the poor results.[28]

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. "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.
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.

External links

• State Election Commission