Sunday's elections will test Macedonia

19/03/2009

Voters head to the polls Sunday for presidential and local elections. The EU has called the vote a "test" for Macedonia's EU membership bid

By Marina Stojanovska for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 19/03/09

The VMRO-DPMNE holds a rally in Skopje ahead of Sunday's vote. The campaign has been peaceful, a citizens association says. [Getty Images]

Macedonian voters will head to the polls Sunday (March 22nd) to vote for a new president, municipality council members and mayors. Macedonia's Electoral Commission combined the two rounds of voting -- presidential and local -- into a single ballot, divided into two parts.

Voters will be instructed as they enter polling stations to vote on both sections of the ballot. Those who fail to vote on one will not be able to return.

Officials will monitor turnout to make sure it reaches 50% (plus one) of registered voters. Changes to the election rules require turnout of 40% of registered voters in the second round of voting for president.

If turnout in the municipal elections is one-third of registered voters in a municipality, the candidate with the most votes wins. However, if turnout is less than a third, the two frontrunners proceed to a second round. Turnout in the second round does not need to be one-third of voters.

Macedonians are choosing their fourth president. Seven candidates are running to succeed Branko Crvenkovski as head of state, including three Albanian party representatives and, for the first time, a woman contender. Other female candidates have dropped out of the race.

According to a recent poll, VMRO-DPMNE candidate Djorgje Ivanov is expected to win 25% of the votes. Opposition SDSM candidate Ljubomir Frckovski trails with an expected 12.7%. New Democracy leader Imer Selmani closely follows Frckovski with a projected 12.6%. Independent candidate and former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski is fourth with a projected 7.4%, followed by Agron Buxhaku of the DUI with a projected 2.2%. The Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA)'s female candidate, Mirushe Hodza, is projected to win 1.6% of the votes.

The mayoral race in Skopje is also close. A record 11 candidates are competing. VMRO-DPMNE representative Koce Trajanov and New Social Democratic Party leader Tito Petkovski are considered favourites.

Campaigning, which began on March 1st, has been peaceful according to the citizens association MOST, with no major incidents reported. MOST has deployed 4,500 observers to monitor Sunday's vote.

The EU has called the elections a "test" for Macedonia. It has also warned that free and fair elections are essential to Macedonia's aspirations for EU membership. Parliamentary elections last June were marred by violence and voter fraud.