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ELECTIONS IN 2011

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Parliament name (generic / translated) Sobranie / Assembly of the Republic Structure of parliament Unicameral BACKGROUND Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 5 June 2011 Purpose of elections Elections were held for all seats in the Assembly following the premature dissolution of this body on 14 April 2011. Elections had previously been held in June 2008. On 14 April 2011, the Assembly of the Republic voted to dissolve itself, paving the way for early elections. The following day, Speaker Trajko Veljanoski called elections for 5 June, one year earlier than they were constitutionally due. At stake were 123 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, up from 120. For the first time, Macedonians living abroad were entitled to vote and elect three members. In the previous elections held in June 2008, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE - "For a Better Macedonia" Coalition took 63 of the 120 seats at stake, with its ally, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), taking 18. The "Sun-Coalition for Europe", comprising the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), took 27 seats while the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDA) took 17. The remaining seat went to a small party. The DUI and the PDA draw support from the ethnic Albanian community, which accounts for a quarter of the country's 2.1 million inhabitants. Following the elections, Prime Minister Gruevski formed another coalition government comprising his VMRO-DPMNE and the DUI. The 2008 elections had been called after Greece vetoed the country's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a result of a dispute over the use of the country's name. Prime Minister Gruevski had pledged to use the name "Republic of Macedonia" as set forth in the country's constitution. Greece, which has a northern province with the same name, rejected the nomenclature for fear of an eventual territorial claim and insisted that it should be changed to "New Macedonia" or "Upper Macedonia". In December 2008, the Macedonian Government brought the issue to the International Court of Justice in the Hague which started the hearing in March 2011. In May 2009, Mr. Gjorgje Ivanov, backed by the VMRO-DPMNE, won the run-off presidential elections, pledging to resolve the name row. In August 2009, the PDA, which had been pushing to make Albanian the second official language, started to boycott parliament. The PDA urged the DUI to leave the government but the latter refused. The PDA continued to boycott parliament until the parliament was dissolved in April 2011. The dissolution of parliament was indirectly triggered by the SDSM's protest against police investigations at the country's biggest private television channel, A1 TV. On 25 November 2010, the police raided A1 TV, which had reportedly been critical of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE coalition. The Interior Minister initially said that the raid targeted several companies located in the same building that were suspected of fraud. The SDSM accused the government of trying to pressure A1 TV. On 5 December, the SDSM organized a protest in front of the parliament building and submitted a formal request for the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic. On 26 December, the owner of A1 TV and several executives were arrested on charges of tax evasion, abuse of office and money laundering and the TV station's bank account was blocked. On 28 January 2011, the SDSM announced that it would no longer participate in the parliament in protest over what it termed the undemocratic rule of the ruling coalition. It demanded the unfreezing of A1 TV's bank account and early parliamentary elections. Small opposition parties joined the parliament boycott. The Prime Minister initially rejected the opposition's demand for early elections. However, after a stand-off of nearly a month, on 23 February, he agreed to hold early elections. On 8 March, the government adopted changes to the electoral code that would also govern the voting rights of Macedonian citizens living abroad. The Prime Minister urged the opposition parties to return to parliament. However, on 3 April, the Assembly of the Republic passed amendments to the electoral code in a session boycotted by the opposition parties, which had demanded that political party representatives be on the election commission. In all, 18 lists submitted by coalitions and parties were vying for seats in 2011. The major contenders were two coalitions, led by the VMRO-DPMNE and the SDSM (see note). On 18 May, A1 TV announced that it would side with the opposition in the 2011 elections. Prime Minister Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE coalition presented a manifesto for reform and development. It ran on the government's record, promising to continue to reduce taxes, provide more jobs, better education, more scholarship as well as better health care. He promised to "maintain good inter-ethnic relations" in the country and invest more in the Roma minority. He pledged to renew efforts to join NATO and the European Union (EU) by tackling corruption and organized crime. The DUI, led by Mr. Ali Ahmeti, also promised to work for the country's accession to the EU and NATO. The SDSM coalition, led by former president Branko Crvenkovski, criticized the government's economic policies, which in his view, had failed to create sufficient jobs, had doubled the external debt and had increased the poverty rate. He argued that the country could not afford another "mistake" by continuing the same policy in the new legislature. He promised to speed up the country's bid to join the EU. The PDA, led by Mr. Menduh Thaci, promised to promote a bicameral parliament and work for the country's accession to both the EU and NATO. The PDA pledged to improve the life of ethnic Albanians who, in his view, are deprived of jobs and other rights and live in poverty. In addition to the DUI and the PDA, a new ethnic Albanian party, the National Democratic Revival (NDR), participated in the 2011 elections. NDR leader Rufi Osmani criticized the policies of the DUI and the PDA. He urged voters' support for the NDR, arguing that his expert team would restore the trust of ethnic Albanian community. In all, 63.48 per cent of the 1.8 million registered voters turned out at the polls. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly praised the peaceful conduct of the voting, but expressed concern over isolated cases of irregularities and the accuracy of voting lists. The VMRO-DPMNE coalition remained the largest party with 56 seats, but failed to secure a majority in the new legislature. The SDSM coalition came in second with 42 seats. The DUI and the DPA took 15 and eight seats respectively. The NDR took the remaining two seats. In all, 34 women were elected. On 25 June, the newly elected Assembly of the Republic held its first session and re-elected Mr. Trajko Veljanoski (VMRO DPMNE) as its Speaker. On 28 June, President Ivanov tasked outgoing Prime Minister Gruevski with forming a new government. On 28 July, the Assembly of the Republic endorsed Mr. Gruevski's new government comprising the VMRO DPMNE and the DUI. Note: The VMRO-DPMNE coalition for the 2011 elections included the following parties: - VMRO-DPMNE - Socialist Party of Macedonia - Democratic Union - Democratic Renewal of Macedonia - Democratic Party of Turks in Macedonia - Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia - Union of Roma in Macedonia - United Party for Emancipation - Party of Justice - Party for Democratic Action in Macedonia - SDA - Party of Vlachs in Macedonia - Party for the Integration of Roma - Bosniaks' Democratic Party - BDP - People's Movement for Macedonia - VMRO - Macedonian - Democratic Forces of the Roma - RZP* - Permanent Macedonian Radical Reunion - TMRO* - New Liberal Party* - VMRO -Democratic Party (VMRO - DP)* - VMRO - United (VMRO - UN)* - Homeland Macedonian or Organization for Radical Reconstruction (VARDAR - EGEJ - PIRIN - TMRO -VEP)* - Macedonian Alliance* *The parties with (*) were not part of the VMRO-DPMNE - "For a Better Macedonia" in 2008. The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia coalition (SDSM) comprised the following parties: - Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) - New Social Democratic Party (NSDP) - Liberal Party of Macedonia - New Alternative - Democratic Union of Vlachs in Macedonia - Party of Pensioners of the Republic of Macedonia - Party for European Future** - Movement of National Unity of Turks in Macedonia** - Serbian Advanced Party in Macedonia** - Party for Total Emancipation of Roma** - Alliance for Tito's Left Forces** - Party for Movement of the Turks in Macedonia** - Party of Free Democrats** - SANDZAK's League** **The parties with (**) were not in part of the "Sun - Coalition for Europe", an opposition coalition led by the SDSM in 2008. STATISTICS Voter turnout Round no 1 5 June 2011 Number of registered electors Voters Blank or invalid ballot papers Valid votes 1'821'122 1'156'085 (63.48%) 1'094'999 Notes Distribution of votes Round no 1 Political Group Candidates Votes % VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition 440'821 40.26 SDSM-led coalition 368'487 33.65 Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) 115'095 10.51 Democratic Party of the Albanians (DPA) 66'315 6.06 National Democratic Revival (NDR) 29'966 2.74 Distribution of seats Round no 1 Political Group Total VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition 56 SDSM-led coalition 42 Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) 15 Democratic Party of the Albanians (DPA) 8 National Democratic Revival (NDR) 2 Distribution of seats according to sex Men Women Percent of women 89 34 27.64% Distribution of seats according to age Distribution of seats according to profession Comments Note on the distribution of seats according to sex: Thirty-four women were elected in the June 2011 elections. Seven members elect, all mayors, did not take up their parliamentary mandate. They were replaced by "next-in-line" candidates from the same party, raising the number of female parliamentarians to 38. The number of women remained unchanged after the formation of the new government in July 2011. Assembly of the Republic (30.06.2011, 04.08.2011) Sources: Assembly of the Republic (16.06.2011, 30.06.2011, 10.12.2012, 24.04.2013) http://217.16.84.11/Default.aspx

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