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2016 Macedonian parliamentary election

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2016 Macedonian parliamentary election
North Macedonia
← 2014 11 December 2016 2020 →
All 123 seats in the Assembly
62 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
For a Better Macedonia Nikola Gruevski 39.39 51 −10
For Life in Macedonia Zoran Zaev 37.87 49 +15
BDI Ali Ahmeti 7.52 10 −9
Besa Bilal Kasami 5.01 5 New
ASh Ziadin Sela 3.04 3 New
PDSh Menduh Thaçi 2.68 2 −5
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Emil Dimitriev
VMRO-DPMNE		 Zoran Zaev
SDSM
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Macedonian political crisis (2015–2017)

Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 11 December 2016, having originally been planned for 24 April and later 5 June.

The elections were held in the midst of a political crisis and national protests since 2015. The incumbent VMRO-DPMNE led government, which had been in government since the 2006 elections, were unable to form a coalition despite winning the most seats. The centre-left SDSM successfully formed a government with members of the Albanian-interest parties DUI and Alliance for Albanians following prolonged negotiations.

Background

Main articles: 2015 Macedonian protests and 2016 Macedonian protests

The elections were called as part of an agreement brokered by the European Union to end the protests against the government of Nikola Gruevski. The demonstrations were sparked by the wiretapping scandal involving high ranking politicians and security personnel. From 20 October 2015, a transitional government was installed including the two main parties, VMRO-DPMNE and the Social Democratic Union (SDSM). A new special prosecutor was appointed to investigate Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and government ministers. According to the Pržino Agreement signed in mid-December 2015, Gruevski was required to resign as Prime Minister 120 days before the elections. Assembly speaker Trajko Veljanovski confirmed the date on 18 October.

Electoral system

Of the 123 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, 120 are elected from six 20-seat constituencies in Macedonia using closed list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. The remaining three members are elected by Macedonians living abroad. However, the overseas seats would only be validated if the candidates received enough votes. As they did not, the seats were not awarded.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
For a Better Macedonia454,57739.3951−10
For Life in Macedonia436,98137.8749+15
Democratic Union for Integration86,7967.5210−9
Besa Movement57,8685.015New
Alliance for Albanians35,1213.043New
Democratic Party of Albanians30,9642.682−5
VMRO for Macedonia24,5242.1300
The Left12,1201.050New
Coalition for Change and Justice – Third Bloc10,0280.870New
Liberal Party3,8400.3300
Party for Democratic Prosperity1,1430.1000
Total1,153,962100.00120−3
Valid votes1,153,96296.82
Invalid/blank votes37,8703.18
Total votes1,191,832100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,784,41666.79
Source: SEC

Aftermath

The Electoral Commission called a re-run for 25 December 2016 in Tearce and Gostivar, though in Gostivar it was called off after the VMRO-DPMNE filed a lawsuit against the decision, and in Tearce the outcome was unchanged.

Government formation

Although VMRO-DPMNE attempted to form a coalition with Albanian minority interest party DUI, coalition talks broke down in late January 2017. After that, the SDSM pursued informal coalition talks with the DUI, though as late as February 2017, coalition talks were frozen on the usage of the Albanian language. These talks were also blocked by VMRO-DPMNE President Gjorge Ivanov over fears of "a loss of sovereignty" to Albanians under the proposed government. A government was finally approved between SDSM and members of DUI and the Alliance for Albanians in May 2017. SDSM leader Zoran Zaev became prime minister.

Coalition talks were impacted by the storming of the parliament building in April. Protestors, who opposed the election of the first Albanian-speaker of Parliament, Talat Xhaferi, targeted MPs who belonged to Albanian-interest parties and the SDSM.

Notes

  1. VMRO – People's Party, Dignity [mk], United for Macedonia
  2. Democratic Union, Front for Democratic Macedonia [mk], DEMOS – New Better Macedonia [mk], MORO–Labour Party [mk]

References

  1. Statement by Commissioner Hahn and MEPs Vajgl, Howitt and Kukan: Agreement in Skopje to overcome political crisis European Commission, 15 July 2015
  2. Macedonia unrest: EU brokers plan for early elections BBC News, 2 June 2015
  3. Macedonia: Special Prosecutor Wins Standoff Over Wiretap Evidence OCCRP
  4. "ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report". Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Retrieved 5 December 2019..
  5. Electoral system IPU
  6. "Macedonia: With Revote at Polling Station on Sunday, Distribution of Mandates Depends on Vote Count Independent.mk, 21 December 2016". Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  7. "VMRO-DPMNE's Lawsuit Accepted, There is No Re-Run in Gostivar!". CIVIL. 21 December 2016. (in Macedonian)
  8. "CIVIL's Preliminary Report on Election Rerun in Tearce". CIVIL. 26 December 2016.
  9. "Macedonia's political crisis continues as conservatives fail to form coalition". Deutsche Welle. AP, dpa, Reuters. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  10. Sinisa Jakov Marusic (20 February 2017). "Macedonia Govt Talks Stuck Over Albanian Language Demands". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  11. "Macedonian president gives mandate for coalition government". Reuters. 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  12. "Macedonia Parliament Approves New Gov't after Prolonged Stalemate". Balkan Insight. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  13. Times, The New York (2017-04-28). "Zoran Zaev, Macedonian Lawmaker, Is Bloodied in Attack on Parliament by Nationalists". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  14. Skopje, Staff and agencies in (2017-04-27). "Macedonia: protesters storm parliament and attack MPs". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
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