North Macedonia`s opposition declares victory in first round of local elections

Opposition party VMRO-DPMNE has claimed victory in the first round of the country’s local elections held on Sunday.

According to the preliminary results from the State Election Commission, the right-wing VMRO DPMNE party won 17 mayoral races in the first round, as opposed to nine for the governing Social Democrats (SDSM).

Prime Minister and SDSM President Zoran Zaev rejected opposition statements claiming that SDSM will have more mayors than VMRO-DPMNE. Zaev argued that the candidates of SDSM’s coalition partners had taken a chunk of votes in municipalities where VMRO-DPMNE is in the lead. SDSM is winning or in the lead in more than 30 municipalities, claimed Zaev.

“This is not a final victory but is the first step in that direction. There is enough division, conflicts, crime and corruption,” said Hristijan Mickoski, leader of VMRO-DPMNE.

The largest Albanian DUI party, a member of the governing coalition, declared victory in three municipalities and second place in 13 others.

(Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)