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Macedonians Vote In Municipal Elections In Test Of Support For Zaev Government

RFE/RL's Balkan Service October 15, 2017

Macedonians voted on October 15 in municipal elections that are seen as a test for the new left-wing government of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, five months after it came to power following an extended period of political instability.

More than 1.7 million people in the Balkan nation were eligible to vote in the first round for mayoral candidates and members of local councils in some 80 municipalities, including the capital, Skopje.

Runoff elections are scheduled for October 29.

Candidates from 19 parties and coalitions along with independent candidates competed in the elections, with results expected early on October 16.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it would send more than 300 observers to Macedonia for the vote.

Opinion polls gave a slight advantage to Zaev's governing coalition of Social Democrats (SDSM) and the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), which came to power following national elections in December 2016 and after protracted negotiations.

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party leads the opposition, which has been dominant in local politics leading up to the vote.

The most closely watched contest will be the mayoral battle in Skopje.

Eight candidates are competing, with SDSM candidate Petre Silegov holding a 2.6 percentage point lead over incumbent Koce Trajanovski of VMRO-DPMNE. Trajanovski is seeking a third term.

On the national level, Zaev has vowed to lead Macedonia to NATO and European Union membership.

He has also promised to resolve investigations into alleged wiretapping and election abuses that were launched by the special public prosecutor against members of the former Gruevski government related to the conservative party's 11 years in power.

Zaev has urged voters to "free the country from the remnants of the VMRO-DPMNE criminal regime."

The VMRO-DPMNE denies any wrongdoing, blaming foreign spies for the wiretapping scandal.

VMRO-DPMNE candidates have focused on "national issues."

They claim that Zaev's SDSM plans to change the country's name in deference to Greece, as it looks to enhance its accession chances with NATO and the EU.

Athens has long insisted that the name Macedonia should only be used for its own northern province, and it has vetoed Skopje's attempts to join NATO and to start EU accession talks over the dispute.

Athens, Brussels, and the United Nations refer to the Balkan country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, told The Washington Post that Macedonia was a likely candidate to become the next NATO member, but she said the country must first resolve the name issue in a manner acceptable to Macedonia and Greece.

Meanwhile, VMRO-DPMNE also has raised ethnic issues, slamming Zaev's government for proposing to make Albanian Macedonia's second official language.

Albanians make up about 25 percent of Macedonia's total population of some 2.1 million people, and Zaev only managed to secure a majority when he reached a coalition deal with Albanian parties after the December election.

Macedonia had been thrown into political turmoil after VMRO-DPMNE finished first in the parliamentary vote but was unable to secure a governing majority.

Second-place Zaev was eventually able to form a coalition with the ethnic Albanian DUI party, a move that ignited nationalist protests in some parts of Macedonia.

The European Council on Foreign Relations lamented that "in Macedonia, a domestic political crisis has caused interethnic tensions and even violence" and urged the EU to become more involved in supporting democracy throughout the Balkans.

"Renewed clashes are not imminent," it added, "but the larger crisis rambles on. Leaders like former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski continue to play the 'ethnic card' for political gain, which risks reigniting violence."

Zaev has also bid to improve relations with Macedonia's neighbors in the region.

In August, Zaev signed a friendship treaty with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in an attempt to end years of feuding with the EU-member nation.

The two countries said they would also heighten economic ties, renounce territorial claims, and improve human and minority rights.

With reporting by AP, Sofia News Agency, and European Western Balkans

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia -municipal-elections- zaev-albania/28795298.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.