2016 Macedonian parliamentary election

←  2014 11 December 2016 2020  →

All 123 seats in the Assembly 62 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader % Seats +/? For a Better Macedonia Nikola Gruevski 39.39 51 ?10 For Life in Macedonia Zoran Zaev 37.87 49 +15 BDI Ali Ahmeti 7.52 10 ?9 Besa Bilal Kasami 5.01 5 New ASh Ziadin Sela  [ mk ] 3.04 3 New PDSh Menduh Thaci 2.68 2 ?5 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by constituency Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Emil Dimitriev VMRO-DPMNE Zoran Zaev SDSM

Politics of North Macedonia
Constitution Human rights LGBT rights Language and politics
Executive President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski
Legislature Assembly President : Afrim Gashi
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2019 2024 Parliamentary: 2020 2024 Local: 2013 2017 2021  [ mk ] Political parties
Administrative divisions Municipalities Regions
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Tim?o Mucunski Diplomatic missions of / in North Macedonia Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy EU accession NATO accession Naming issue Negotiator: Nikola Dimitrov Special Envoy: Vlado Bu?kovski
North Macedonia portal Other countries
v t e

Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 11 December 2016, having originally been planned for 24 April and later 5 June. ^[1]

The elections were held in the midst of a political crisis and national protests since 2015. The incumbent VMRO-DPMNE led government, which had been in government since the 2006 elections , were unable to form a coalition despite winning the most seats. The centre-left SDSM successfully formed a government with members of the Albanian-interest parties DUI and Alliance for Albanians following prolonged negotiations.

Background [ edit ]

The elections were called as part of an agreement brokered by the European Union to end the protests against the government of Nikola Gruevski . ^[2] The demonstrations were sparked by the wiretapping scandal involving high ranking politicians and security personnel. ^[3] From 20 October 2015, a transitional government was installed including the two main parties, VMRO-DPMNE and the Social Democratic Union (SDSM). A new special prosecutor was appointed to investigate Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and government ministers. According to the Pr?ino Agreement signed in mid-December 2015, Gruevski was required to resign as Prime Minister 120 days before the elections. Assembly speaker Trajko Veljanovski confirmed the date on 18 October. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Electoral system [ edit ]

Of the 123 seats in the Assembly of the Republic , 120 are elected from six 20-seat constituencies in Macedonia using closed list proportional representation , with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method . The remaining three members are elected by Macedonians living abroad. ^{[4] [5]} However, the overseas seats would only be validated if the candidates received enough votes. As they did not, the seats were not awarded.

Results [ edit ]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/?
	For a Better Macedonia	454,577	39.39	51	?10
	For Life in Macedonia	436,981	37.87	49	+15
	Democratic Union for Integration	86,796	7.52	10	?9
	Besa Movement	57,868	5.01	5	New
	Alliance for Albanians	35,121	3.04	3	New
	Democratic Party of Albanians	30,964	2.68	2	?5
	VMRO for Macedonia [a]	24,524	2.13	0	0
	The Left	12,120	1.05	0	New
	Coalition for Change and Justice ? Third Bloc [b]	10,028	0.87	0	New
	Liberal Party	3,840	0.33	0	0
	Party for Democratic Prosperity	1,143	0.10	0	0
Total		1,153,962	100.00	120	?3
Valid votes		1,153,962	96.82
Invalid/blank votes		37,870	3.18
Total votes		1,191,832	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,784,416	66.79
Source: SEC

Aftermath [ edit ]

The Electoral Commission called a re-run for 25 December 2016 in Tearce and Gostivar , ^[6] though in Gostivar it was called off after the VMRO-DPMNE filed a lawsuit against the decision, ^[7] and in Tearce the outcome was unchanged. ^[8]

Government formation [ edit ]

Although VMRO-DPMNE attempted to form a coalition with Albanian minority interest party DUI , coalition talks broke down in late January 2017. ^[9] After that, the SDSM pursued informal coalition talks with the DUI, though as of late February 2017, coalition talks were frozen on the usage of the Albanian language. ^[10] These talks were also blocked by VMRO-DPMNE President Gjorge Ivanov over fears of "a loss of sovereignty" to Albanians under the proposed government. ^[11] A government was finally approved between SDSM and members of DUI and the Alliance for Albanians in May 2017. ^[12] SDSM leader Zoran Zaev became Prime Minister.

Coalition talks were impacted by the storming of the parliament building in April. ^[13] Protestors, who opposed the election of the first Albanian-speaker of Parliament, Talat Xhaferi , targeted MPs who belonged to Albanian-interest parties and the SDSM. ^[14]

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]