Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006

Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006
Republic of Macedonia
5 July 2006

All 120 seats to the Sobranie
  First party Second party
 
Leader Nikola Gruevski Vlado Bučkovski
Party VMRO–DPMNE SDSM
Alliance VMRO coalition Together for Macedonia
Last election 33 seats 61
Seats won 45 32
Seat change +12 –29
Popular vote 303,543 218,164
Percentage 32.5% 23.3%

PM before election

Vlado Bučkovski
SDSM

Elected PM

Nikola Gruevski
VMRO–DPMNE

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Republic of Macedonia

Parliamentary elections were in Macedonia on 5 July 2006. The result was a victory for the VRMO-DPNME-led coalition, which won 45 of the 120 seats.

Electoral system

The country was divided into six constituencies that elected 20 members each by proportional representation.[1] Seats were allocated using the d'Hondt method with an electoral threshold of 5%.[1]

Campaign

The international community sent 6,000 observers to monitor electoral procedures, as NATO and European Union officials saw the elections as a key test of Macedonian ambitions of joining both organizations after local elections in March 2005 were marred by irregularities. The 2006 election campaign was marked by serious cross-political confrontations, occasionally resulting in violence,[2] mainly between, but not limited to, the two major ethnic Albanian parties - the Democratic Union for Integration and the Democratic Party of Albanians. The situation was seen as seriously tarnishing the international reputation of the country. As the confrontations between the ethnic Albanian parties intensified, a diplomatic offensive from Western officials took place to put an end to the irregularities. These efforts were supported by the ethnic Macedonian parties, but also by calls from the Albanian and Kosovan prime ministers. The situation within the Albanian bloc didn't seem to improve much and, moreover, on 22 June 2006 in the center of Skopje, a clash between the two major ethnic Macedonian parties (VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM) also took place.

The representatives of the EU and the United States continued with their efforts to stop the irregularities. NATO warned it over pre-election violence or risk delays the country's ambitions to join the military alliance. (NATO intervention in 2001 (Operation Essential Harvest and Operation Amber Fox) helped prevent ethnic conflict developing into full-scale civil war.) Problems within the Macedonian bloc stopped immediately, and incidents between the Albanian parties also progressively stopped. The last week of the election campaign was calm, with almost no incidents.

Results

Coalition or party Votes % Seats
CoalitionVRMO-DPNME303,54332.538
Liberal Party of Macedonia2
Socialist Party of Macedonia3
Democratic Union1
Union of Roma in Macedonia1
Party for the Movement of Turks in Macedonia0
Party of Democratic Action of Macedonia0
Party of Vlachs of Macedonia0
European Party of Macedonia0
Party of the Greens0
People's Movement of Macedonia0
Democratic Party of the Bosniaks0
Party of the Democratic Forces of Roma in Macedonia0
Party for Roma Integration0
Together for MacedoniaSocial Democratic Union of Macedonia218,16423.323
Liberal Democratic Party5
Democratic Party of Turks2
United Party of Romas in Macedonia1
Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia1
Democratic Union of Vlachs0
Workers-Peasant Party0
Socialist Christian Party of Macedonia0
Green Party of Macedonia0
Coalition Democratic Union for Integration114,30112.213
Party for Democratic Prosperity3
Democratic League of Bosniaks0
Democratic Party of Albanians70,1377.511
VMRO-People's Party57,2046.16
New Social Democratic Party57,0496.17
Democratic Renewal of Macedonia17,5921.91
Party for Economic Renewal13,1141.40
Agricultural People's Party of Macedonia12,6221.30
Party for a European Future11,4411.21
Democratic Alternative11,1751.20
Social Democratic Party8,3750.90
National Democratic Party4,4910.50
National Alternative4,2540.50
New Democratic Forces-Democratic Alliance of Albanians4,1420.40
Union of Tito's Left Forces2,9900.30
Democratic-Republican Union of Macedonia2,6740.30
League for Democracy2,6640.30
Macedonian Party2,2120.20
Party for a Democratic Future1,4720.20
TMRO1,4280.20
Radical Party of the Serbs in Macedonia1,2740.10
United Macedonians1,2700.10
VRMO-Democratic Party1,2220.10
Leftist Forces of Macedonia1,1860.10
Movement for National Unity of Turks8990.10
TMORO-VEP7310.10
Communist Party of Macedonia6020.10
DPM-Tetovo5850.10
Centre of Democratic Forces1330.00
Democratic Party "Go Macedonia–Forza"760.00
Independents6,1570.71
Invalid/blank votes37,931
Total973,110100120
Registered voters/turnout1,741,44956.1
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

There were no major problems on the election day (5 July 2006), with only minor irregularities in the Western part of the country. The counting of the votes also passed almost without any objections. The government of the Republic of Macedonia, the EU and the United States dubbed the elections "a success".

The results showed a clear victory for the coalition led by the centre-right opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, obtaining 45 of the 120 seats in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. The coalition of its centre-left political opponent, SDSM, won 35 seats. The majority of Albanian votes were given to the DUI - PDP coalition (17 seats), while DPA won 11 seats. Other parties that won seats in the Parliament include: NSDP (7 seats), VMRO-NP (6 seats), DOM (1 seat), PEI (1 seat).

After unsuccessful negotiations between VMRO-DPMNE and DUI considering the structure of the new government, Nikola Gruevski decided to form a government with the Democratic Party of Albanians. After a tough negotiation process (especially between VMRO-DPMNE and NSDP), in August 2006, Gruevski announced that the new government will be composed of VMRO-DPMNE, DPA, NSDP, DOM, and PEI (65 seats in the Parliament, in total).

The DUI-PDP coalition, revolted because they have not been invited in the new government, started protests throughout the Albanian-dominated parts of the country. In May 2007, PDP has decided to accept Gruevski's offer to join the government, and in June the PDP became a coalition partner in the Gruevski's government.

References

  1. 1 2 Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 1276, ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Violence mars Macedonia campaign BBC News, 26 June 2006
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