Opposition Takes Elections

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The opposition coalition of the Social Democratic Union (SDSM), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and 10 minor parties beat out the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) and the Liberal Party in the 15 September elections.

In the early morning of 16 September, VMRO-DPMNE leader Ljubco Georgievski admitted defeat, thanking the citizens of Macedonia for voting and graciously greeting the victors. "Our coalition would not have been in a position to form the next government," Georgievski conceded, adding: "With this election we have proven we are a democratic country."

On the other side of the ethnic divide, Ali Ahmet and his ethnic Albanian Democratic Union of Integration (DUI) emerged victorious over the governmental Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH) of Arben Xhaferi, who also came out to congratulate the opposition on its victory. "The Democratic Party of the Albanians was the most successful Albanian party in recent history," said Xhaferi. "We greet the winners from the DUI and we will give them our full support in the future."

Until the last minute, the public was holding its breath in fear of the elections turning violent. However, despite earlier clashes, the country's fourth multi-party elections were held in relative peace and calm, with only few minor incidents. A large percentage of voters flocked to the polls in the early morning hours and fears of possible violence and voting irregularities were soon assuaged. According to unofficial reports, the turnout was close to 70%.

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The violent clashes and voting problems that characterized the 1999 and 2000 elections were not repeated. Though fears were especially high in the regions most affected by last year's armed conflict — in the sixth electoral unit in the northwest, where the majority of ethnic Albanians live — only minor incidents caused any problems.

The most serious incident occurred in the village of Leshok, near Tetovo, when three armed men stole the voting box and wounded one member of the election commission. Later in the evening, police announced that they had arrested those involved. Also, in the village of Vrtekica, police said a DUI activist was beaten by several PDSH activists. Other minor incidents and voting irregularities happened mostly in rural areas.

The elections were observed by 3,799 local monitors and 1,015 international monitors. For the first time in recent history, voting booths were secured by more than 4,000 specially trained policemen, who remained on the scene during the counting of the votes. Craig Jenes of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) told the press on 16 September in Skopje that the elections were fair and democratic.

"Macedonia will last forever. The Macedonian people proved to be a state-building people. The citizens always know what to do and how to react. This is the victory of the people. Today we would celebrate and tomorrow we would start the hard work," said SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski, who served as Macedonian prime minister from 1992 to 1998. He announced a public celebration on 16 September in Skopje's main square.

*This article was edited and adapted from Transitions Online. A longer version is available at: www.tol.cz

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