2016 Macedonian parliamentary election
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All 123 seats in the Assembly 62 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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 North Macedonia portal |
Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 11 December 2016, having originally been planned for 24 April and later 5 June.[1]
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
[edit]The elections were called as part of an agreement brokered by the European Union to end the protests against the government of Nikola Gruevski.[2] The demonstrations were sparked by the wiretapping scandal involving high ranking politicians and security personnel.[3] 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.[citation needed]
Electoral system
[edit]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.[4][5] However, the overseas seats would only be validated if the candidates received enough votes. As they did not, the seats were not awarded.
Results
[edit] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| For a Better Macedonia | 454,577 | 39.39 | 51 | −10 | |
| For Life in Macedonia | 436,981 | 37.87 | 49 | +15 | |
| Democratic Union for Integration | 86,796 | 7.52 | 10 | −9 | |
| Besa Movement | 57,868 | 5.01 | 5 | New | |
| Alliance for Albanians | 35,121 | 3.04 | 3 | New | |
| Democratic Party of Albanians | 30,964 | 2.68 | 2 | −5 | |
| VMRO for Macedonia[a] | 24,524 | 2.13 | 0 | 0 | |
| The Left | 12,120 | 1.05 | 0 | New | |
| Coalition for Change and Justice – Third Bloc[b] | 10,028 | 0.87 | 0 | New | |
| Liberal Party | 3,840 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | |
| Party for Democratic Prosperity | 1,143 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1,153,962 | 100.00 | 120 | −3 | |
| Valid votes | 1,153,962 | 96.82 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 37,870 | 3.18 | |||
| Total votes | 1,191,832 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,784,416 | 66.79 | |||
| Source: SEC | |||||
Aftermath
[edit]The Electoral Commission called a re-run for 25 December 2016 in Tearce and Gostivar,[6] though in Gostivar it was called off after the VMRO-DPMNE filed a lawsuit against the decision,[7] and in Tearce the outcome was unchanged.[8]
Government formation
[edit]Although VMRO-DPMNE attempted to form a coalition with Albanian minority interest party DUI, coalition talks broke down in late January 2017.[9] 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.[10] These talks were also blocked by VMRO-DPMNE President Gjorge Ivanov over fears of "a loss of sovereignty" to Albanians under the proposed government.[11] A government was finally approved between SDSM and members of DUI and the Alliance for Albanians in May 2017.[12] SDSM leader Zoran Zaev became prime minister.
Coalition talks were impacted by the storming of the parliament building in April.[13] 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.[14]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Statement by Commissioner Hahn and MEPs Vajgl, Howitt and Kukan: Agreement in Skopje to overcome political crisis European Commission, 15 July 2015
- ^ Macedonia unrest: EU brokers plan for early elections BBC News, 2 June 2015
- ^ Macedonia: Special Prosecutor Wins Standoff Over Wiretap Evidence OCCRP
- ^ "ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report". Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Retrieved 5 December 2019..
- ^ Electoral system IPU
- ^ "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.
- ^ "VMRO-DPMNE's Lawsuit Accepted, There is No Re-Run in Gostivar!". CIVIL. 21 December 2016. (in Macedonian)
- ^ "CIVIL's Preliminary Report on Election Rerun in Tearce". CIVIL. 26 December 2016.
- ^ "Macedonia's political crisis continues as conservatives fail to form coalition". Deutsche Welle. AP, dpa, Reuters. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic (20 February 2017). "Macedonia Govt Talks Stuck Over Albanian Language Demands". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
- ^ "Macedonian president gives mandate for coalition government". Reuters. 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- ^ "Macedonia Parliament Approves New Gov't after Prolonged Stalemate". Balkan Insight. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Skopje, Staff and agencies in (2017-04-27). "Macedonia: protesters storm parliament and attack MPs". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
