The Speaker of the Parliament of Northern Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, today officially announced the holding of local elections on October 17.
Mr. Xhaferi said that during the campaign, the country’s parliament will not hold plenary and committee sessions. “In this way, it will be possible for political parties and their candidates to be fully committed to the election campaign and the demands of the citizens, avoiding the possibility of using parliament for the campaign,” he said.
The Social Democratic League has reached an agreement with the ruling Albanian parties to enter a coalition in the elections, ie to support the candidate of the partner party in a municipality during the second round, or where they do not compete with their candidate. But, this does not apply to the Albanian parties among them.
The Macedonian opposition VMRO has warned that it will compete with new candidates who, according to the party, “have something to offer”. Meanwhile, the Alliance for Albanians and Alternative is expected to form a coalition.
The major parties are looking at the possibility of changing the Electoral Code, which does not favor small parties and independent candidates, but this goal has been opposed by the OSCE, which does not want changes to the Code on the eve of elections, as Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has warned that he would not eventually sign such a decision by Parliament.
The competitions will be held for mayors of 80 municipalities and for the city of Skopje, as a separate administrative unit and for members of the Municipal Councils. For the first time in this process a fingerprint scanner will be used.
