SKOPJE – North Macedonia’s ruling party conceded defeat late on May 8 in presidential and parliamentary elections, setting the stage for right-wing opposition candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova to become the country’s first woman president and perhaps allow new leaders to shape the future of the Balkan nation.
Siljanovska-Davkova, 70, who is supported by the nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, held a commanding lead over 61-year-old pro-Western incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, backed by the ruling Social Democrats (SDSM), in the vote made necessary when no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round for the largely ceremonial post.
With more than 50 percent of ballots counted, Siljanovska-Davkova had 64 percent of the vote.
In a late news conference, Pendarovski conceded defeat, saying that "the results are clear. I want to congratulate victory to those who won."
Meanwhile, in a simultaneous but separate parliamentary vote, results indicate that the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE will have 59 of the 120 seats in parliament. Expected future Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said his party and the Vredi block of Albanian opposition parties, which won 13 seats, would form the government. SDSM won 19 seats.
"I congratulate our political opponent VMRO-DPMNE with this victory in the elections,” said Dimitar Kovacevski, a former prime minister and the leader of the SDSM.
"The result is disappointing and this is a big blow to SDSM," he added.
Following the election, Siljanovska-Davkova -- who is expected to be inaugurated on May 12, said she would be the "president of all citizens, to all ethnic groups, to party members, to those who are not in parties, because a president cannot -- especially if she is a woman -- unite and search for unity if she holds to party lines."
She pledged to cooperate with Balkan neighbors and suggested support for the country's EU hopes.
VMRO-DPMNE supporters celebrated past midnight in Skopje's Macedonia Square, signing and waving banners and flags.
Election officials said that about 30 minutes before polls closed, turnout was 46.31 percent in the presidential election, surpassing the required 40 percent to make the vote valid. Turnout in the parliamentary election was 53.3 percent at the same time, officials said.
Aleksandar Dashtevski, chief of the State Election Commission, told a news conference late on May 8 that “we have had successful, fair, and democratic elections.”
"All citizens had equal voting rights [and] they voted based on their own free will,” he added.
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Voters Cast Ballots In North Macedonia's Double Elections
The nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) had appeared poised for a strong showing after years in opposition, with its preferred presidential candidate riding high after a surprisingly high tally in last month's first round.
Political analyst Marko Tosanovski told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that voters appear frustrated that the governing parties have been unable to pull the country out of economic doldrums, high inflation, and pervasive corruption.
"Failures occurred at several levels, but even more so because the citizens didn’t see a quick reaction to correcting these conditions," Tosanovski said.
Pendarovski is the candidate of the ruling Social Democrats, who have kept the VMRO-DPMNE in opposition for the past seven years but appeared to be hurt by his perceived failure and that of his allies to tackle corruption and kick-start the economy.
Pendarovski has been an advocate of the country's desire to join the EU. North Macedonia joined NATO in 2020.
Siljanovska-Davkova has criticized a pledge to institute a constitutional change establishing Bulgarians as a constitutive people in North Macedonia, but has acknowledged she won't block it in the event that a two-thirds majority can be mustered to approve it.
In 2022, Skopje reluctantly bowed to Sofia's demand for the change in order to convince Bulgaria to lift its veto on the start of North Macedonia's framework negotiations with the European Union.
North Macedonia's potential EU path, a sluggish economy, and corruption were major themes of the campaign.
World Bank forecasters say North Macedonia and its 2.4 million residents are likely to end 2024 as the worst economic performer and with the biggest budget deficit among the so-called Western Balkan Six, which also includes Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
VMRO-DPMNE officials appeared confident going into the double-bill voting that they have a realistic chance of governing alongside a like-minded president.
Mickoski said after Siljanovska-Davkova's strong first-round result that "I wouldn't be surprised if we have 61 MPs" in the currently 120-member parliament.
Kovacevski said after that vote that "it is clear that people have punished us, and we accepted that."
The next government's priorities are expected to grapple with the pledge to change the constitution to clear a path to opening chapters of North Macedonia's full EU negotiations.
The VMRO-DPMNE campaigned on the idea that the EU negotiation framework can be changed.
Macedonians have had EU candidate status since 2005 but their accession efforts ran into a drawn-out name dispute with Greece, which was resolved in 2019. They also found themselves stalled by EU member Bulgaria's veto, which is continuing despite the 2022 compromise requiring the amendment to the preamble of the Macedonian Constitution.
Siljanovska-Davkova has also said she will "respect" the name change that removed the Greek veto "but I will not use it," a reference to the name North Macedonia that has since appeared in all official settings.
She told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that if parliament -- which has so far failed to amend the constitution in line with the "French compromise" involving Bulgarians -- approves the constitutional amendment she will respect that decision.
A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority that neither side appears likely to win, and the VMRO-DPMNE has consistently blocked the move.