Year: 2022
Type: Journal Article
Title: 2021 Local Elections in North Macedonia: A Prelude to Alternation of Power?
Author: Bliznakovski, Jovan
Abstract: Prior to the 2021 elections, North Macedonia had an entrenched tradition of local-level voting for the central-level incumbent. The party leading the central government has always won most mayoral positions at the local elections since they were first held in 1996, making the lower-level contest a simple showcase of the support for the ruling parties. The October 2021 elections were quite different: the opposition right-wing Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (Vnatreshna makedonska revolucionerna organizacija – Demokratska partija za makedonsko nacionalno edinstvo, VMRO-DPMNE) claimed a dominant win, resulting in a resignation of the ruling center-left Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Socijaldemokratski sojuz na Makedonija, SDSM) Prime Minister (PM) Zaev and the appointment of a new government with changed personnel from the side of SDSM. This outcome is due to the general public’s disappointment with the performance of the SDSM-led government, especially regarding persistent corruption, the inability to reinstate rule of law following the disclosed abuses from the Wiretapping Affair (2015), and the lack of further progress regarding EU-membership despite heavy national concessions such as the name change (2019). The election results can also be read as a symptom of the population’s major disillusionment with the prospect of opening EU accession negotiations soon. Following these developments, a change of power can be expected, with VMRO-DPMNE eyeing to reclaim the central government (after their 2017 exit) at the next parliamentary elections which could take place as late as 2024.
Publisher: University of Graz
Relation: Contemporary Southeastern Europe
Identifier: oai:repository.ukim.mk:20.500.12188/29855
Identifier: Bliznakovski, Jovan. 2022. 2021 Local Elections in North Macedonia: A Prelude to Alternation of Power? Contemporary Southeastern Europe, 2022, 9(1), 33-46
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12188/29855Identifier: 10.25364/02.9:2022.1.3
Identifier: https://unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/8206724.pdf
