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| Skopje with new President |
| Skopje, 06.04.2009 |
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| Macedonians were voting for fourth time for president and for fifth time- for representatives of the local power, who could not get necessary number of votes at the first round.
Voters have the right to choose between VMRO-DPMNE nominee for President George Ivanov and Social Democratic Union of Macedonia nominee Ljubomir Frckovski.
In the first round George Ivanov won 345,850 votes and Ljubomir Frckovski – 202,691 votes.
The voter turnout in the first round of the presidential and local elections was 56.88%.Voter turnout at the run off vote must be at least 40% so new president to be elected.
43 municipalities held a second round of the local elections. State Electoral Commission /SEC/ says the election day passed peacefully and without incidents. Despite that, media, NGOs and international observers reported irregularities. SEC says that there is a considerable difference between the voter turnout in the presidential and local elections in the municipalities of Tetovo and Gostivar.
odkaz na stránku
The second round of voting has opened in Macedonia’s joint presidential and mayoral elections in a poll seen as a test of the country’s democratic credentials.
Polls opened at 0700 CET (0600 GMT) and will close at 1900 CET (1800 GMT).
Nearly 1.8 million are voters choosing between the presidential frontrunners, Georgi Ivanov from the main ruling conservative party VMRO DPMNE and Ljubomir Frckoski from the main opposition, the Social Democrats. In the first round of voting, Ivanov won 340,000 votes while Frckoski won about 200,000. There are also 50 mayoral seats out of the 84 which will be filled during this vote.
The vote is closely monitored by the European Union after last year’s June general election was marred by violence and fraud in ethnic Albanian areas. As in the March 22 first round which the international observers gave green light to, the police are present at each of the around 3,000 ballot stations in order to ensure peaceful voting.
Another concern in the second round is the turnout at the presidential poll. In order to succeed, the presidential election will have to attract more than 40 percent of voters but some observers fear this might be hard since none of the runner’s up in the first round of voting endorsed either of the leading two presidential candidates nor did they advise their supporters to come out and cast their ballots for another candidate.
Analysts note the low motivation among ethnic Albanians too since none of the two frontrunners have actively courted their vote.
If the country pulls off a smooth election it can hope for a swift removal of EU visas put up against travelling Macedonian citizens and a date for the start of its EU accession talks this autumn.
Macedonia has been a EU candidate state since 2005 and last year the European Commission said Skopje is still not ready for the start of accession talks largely because of the violence and fraud allegations that marred the 2008 general election.
Reporting by Sinisa-Jakov Marusic in Skopje
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