The convincing triumph and the danger of absolute power in North Macedonia

2025-11-03 22:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A total of 65 of the 81 mayoral seats in North Macedonia ended up in the hands of VMRO-DPMNE and VLEN. This also includes the third government partner, ZNAM, which remains at the helm of local government in the country's largest municipality, Kumanovo.

This means that the government partners, in addition to having central power, will also govern at the local level in over 80% of the country's municipalities and cities over the next four years.

"These were local elections and perhaps they focused on local problems, but it seems clear that with this power, everything will be in the hands of VMRO-DPMNE and VLEN - from sewage to European integration. I think that after this euphoria passes, they will face direct pressure, because everything must be resolved by them ," journalist and political analyst Nazim Rashidi tells Radio Free Europe.

He emphasizes that parties should not only see this as "a good result for them", but should also think about the additional responsibilities.

"Now, everything will depend on their actions," says Rashid.

Of the 65 mayoral seats won by these two parties, 55 belong to VMRO-DPMNE, while 10 to VLEN.

The dominance has already been seen, but has the lesson been learned?

Although the local elections increased the dominance of one party in Macedonian politics, this is not an unprecedented change, says analyst and director of the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, Aleksandar Krzhalovski.

VMRO-DPMNE, compared to the previous elections when it had 42 mayors, now has 13 more.

Krzhalovski recalls that even before two election cycles, the country had a similar experience.

In 2017, the then-ruling party, SDSM, won 57 mayoral seats, while VMRO-DPMNE only won five.

"Things change, especially in our country, much faster than everyone thinks. Therefore, I believe that this lesson has been learned and now we will act more carefully," Krzhalovski tells Radio Free Europe.

Prime Minister and leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, after announcing a landslide victory in the second round, warned of caution.

"Every election is a message, and these elections are a message for us too: let's not exaggerate with victory, but act with the responsibility that the citizens gave us and justify it. Let's change and improve ," Mickoski said on the night of November 2.

How can SDSM and DUI "come back"?

While the ruling parties now have the power and responsibility at all levels, the opposition - the Social Democratic League of Macedonia and the Democratic Union for Integration - must turn their attention to themselves to return as political actors after their defeat in the local elections.

"Of course, they themselves must do something to return to a competitive situation... Perhaps a review of everything that happened in the past period - from the Prespa Agreement, the Agreement with Bulgaria and the French proposal - to see how much they influenced this result of the local elections, but also the parliamentary ones, last year ," says Krzhalovski, alluding to the SDSM.

But, according to him, the DUI is also a social democratic party according to its ideology, so both parties should reconsider whether and how they want to return to social democracy.

"Of course, they must listen to the voice of citizens and reflect it in their party structures, have openness and internal democracy," according to Krzhalovski.

Rashidi, on the other hand, notes that both parties are in different positions, but the results are an alarm signal for each - not only for personnel decisions, but also for the policies they pursue, taking into account the generational changes on the scene.

The Social Democrats, as he says, are perhaps in a certain consolidation phase, as they themselves emphasize that they have relatively young leaders. But, despite this, they must face the results and see where they went wrong.

"For the DUI, this should be a real moment for serious analysis," says Rashidi.

The leaders of SDSM and DUI, Venko Filipçe and Ali Ahmeti, announced personnel changes.

Filipçe, even after the second round of local elections, where his party won in only six municipalities, was clear that he would not resign, but emphasized that the results are a message about the direction in which the party will move.

Among the Social Democrats, one of the vice-chairs, Ana ?upecska, has already resigned, while Gjorgji Galetanovski also resigned from the position of head of the Skopje city organization, where the party failed to even enter the second round of the race for mayor of the capital.

There are currently no resignations in DUI.

Ahmeti, in his speech, emphasized that the results are a call to strengthen the party.

DUI, which led the National Alliance for Integration coalition in these elections, won only four mayoral elections.

The local elections on October 19 and the second round on November 2 were the eighth since North Macedonia's independence in 1991.

They were held less than two years after the parliamentary elections, in which VMRO-DPMNE, after seven years in opposition, returned to central power, forming a coalition with VLEN and ZNAM and bringing into opposition the SDSM, but also the DUI, which had been in power for about two decades. /REL