Macedonia
parliamentary elections
05/07/2006
Sources: Government of Macedonia, International Crisis Group, Southeast European Times
Election Summary
The July 5th, 2006 parliamentary elections in Macedonia resulted in a clear victory for a coalition led by the VMRO-DPMNE, a centre-right party led by Nikola Gruevski.
The VMRO-DPMNE, in partnership with over a dozen other parties, won 45 out of the 120 seats in Macedonia's parliament. The For Macedonia Together coalition, led by incumbent Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski and the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, won 32 seats, while a coalition consisting of two ethnic Albanian parties -- the Democratic Union of Integration (DUI) and the Party of Democratic Prosperity -- garnered 17 seats. Another ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), won 11 seats.
After a long period of negotiation, Gruevski announced the formation of a new government composed of the VMRO-DPMNE, the DPA and four other parliamentary parties. The VMRO-DPMNE was, however, unable to reach agreement with the country's largest ethnic Albanian party, the DUI, and it was excluded from the cabinet – a move that prompted a walkout by DUI lawmakers. Parliament approved the new government on August 26th, with a vote of 68-22.
Total voter turnout was 55.98%.