Chamber:
	Sobranie
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	18 October 1 November 1998
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The date of the 1998 parliamentary elections was announced on 6 August 1998 by Assembly Speaker Tito Petkovski. For the 85 majority seats, 635 candidates were nominated by 28 political parties, eight coalitions and eight individual members. For the remaining 35 proportional representation seats, 595 candidates from 17 lists were in the running. The poll featured a renewed confrontation between the ruling Alliance for Macedonia led by the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) and the right-wing opposition coalition comprising the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) and the Democratic Alternative (DA). Campaign issues centered on foreign as well as domestic policy. In the former area, all mainstream parties voiced similar targets: normalization of relations with neighboring Greece and Bulgaria, and moves to push the country closer to the West, with eventual membership of the European Union and NATO. On home problems, the SDSM pledged the continuation of economic reforms and pointed to the positive results achieved during its six-year rule, while the opposition coalition called for important changes, especially strong encouragement of economic development, foreign investment and a policy that would generate growth and jobs to combat the country’s high unemployment rate. Polling day was monitored by some 200 international observers, including teams from the Council of Europe and the OSCE. As announced by the state election committee, results of the first round on 18 October - which the observers declared as being generally well conducted despite some deficiencies - gave the SDSM of Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and its former socialist partners 10 seats to 15 for the DA, led by Mr. Vasil Tupurkovski, and the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE of Mr. Ljubcho Georgievski. Allied, the two main ethnic Albanian parties (Party of Democratic Prosperity and Democratic Party of Albanians), for their part, secured eight seats. A total of 85 seats remained to be decided at the second round (1 November). According to the final outcome, the opposition secured 62 seats to 27 for SDSM. On 1 December, the newly elected Parliament approved the new coalition Cabinet led by Prime Minister Georgievski; it consists of members from VMRO-DPMNE, DA and the DPA.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (18 October 1998): Elections results. Majority vote
Number of registered electors	1,572,976
Voters	1,146,342 (72.87%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	29,111
Valid votes	1,117,231
Round no 1 (18 October 1998): Elections results. Proportional vote
Number of registered electors	1,572,976
Voters	1,146,457 (72.88%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	34,181
Valid votes	1,112,276
Round no 2 (1 November 1998): Elections results
Number of registered electors	1,106,513
Voters	774,362 (69.98%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	13,595
Valid votes	760,767

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE)	28.1
Social Democratic Union (SDSM)	25.2
Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP)	19.3*
Democratic Alternative (DA)	10.1
Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA)	19.3*
Liberal Party (LP)	7.0
Socialist Party (SPM)	4.7
Others	5.6

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE)	49
Social Democratic Union (SDSM)	27
Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP)	14
Democratic Alternative (DA)	13
Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA)	10
Liberal Party (LP)	4
Socialist Party (SPM)	1
Others	1

Comments:
	(Available data) *total % of the Albanian parties PDP and DPA

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	111
Women:	9