Incumbent defeated

Opposition leads in elections in North Macedonia

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova becomes the first female president of North Macedonia.(Bild: AP/Boris Grdanoski)

The opposition candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova has won the run-off election for the office of president in North Macedonia. She received 64.8 percent of the vote, according to the state election commission. She thus prevailed against incumbent Stevo Pendarovski (29.2 percent). 

By late Wednesday evening, 79.2 percent of the votes had been counted. The run-off ended at 7 p.m., with only 46 percent of those eligible to vote taking part. 

Parliament was elected at the same time on Wednesday. At 53.36%, the turnout here was slightly higher. Late in the evening, the party of the opposition candidate VMRO-DPMNE was in the lead with 42.5 percent (78.2 percent counted). This makes the opposition party the strongest force in the new 120-seat parliament. The social democratic governing party SDSM only received 14.5 percent and thus plummeted dramatically.

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova(Bild: AP/Boris Grdanoski)

Hristijan Mickovski leads the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE.(Bild: AFP/Robert Atanasovski)

People casting their votes on Wednesday(Bild: AFP/Robert Atanasovski)

Election worker and election worker(Bild: AFP)

The VMRO-DPMNE has become known in recent years for its opposition to the country's new constitutional name - the Republic of North Macedonia. It also opposes any constitutional change under "foreign dictation", which means constitutional recognition of the Bulgarian ethnic group. However, this is a prerequisite for starting accession talks with the European Union.

Social Democrats still in power
The Social Democrats (SDSM), who have been in power until now, appealed to the population to pave the "way to Europe" with their vote. The lesson had been learned, they said. However, in a survey in March, 66% of respondents had already described the social democratic governing coalition as "unsuccessful". This was also reflected in the election result.

Siljanovska-Davkova would be the country's first female president. The incumbent Pendarovski had already secured just under 20 percent of the vote in the first round. The ballot was observed by domestic and foreign election observers. The final result is expected during the night.