VMRO-DPMNE

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (Macedonian: Внатрешно-Македонска Револуциона Организација – Демократска Партија за Македонско Национално Единство, Vnatrešno-Makedonska Revoluciona Organizacija – Demokratska Partija za Makedonsko Nacionalno Edinstvo, VMRO–DPMNE) is a right-of-centre political party in the Republic of Macedonia. The party describes itself as a Christian Democratic party which supports the admission of Macedonia to NATO and the European Union.

The party's name derives from the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, a 19th century rebel movement. The original organization was suppressed in the 1930s, at which time the territory of the current Republic of Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia. The VMRO–DPMNE claims ideological descent from the old VMRO.

Following the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia began to disintegrate and democratic politics were revived in Macedonia. Many exiles returned to Macedonia from abroad, and a new generation of young Macedonian intellectuals rediscovered the history of Macedonian nationalism. In these circumstances it was not surprising that the name of the famed Macedonian rebels was revived. Under the name VMRO–DPMNE, the party was founded on June 17 1990 in Skopje.

After the first multi-party elections in 1990, VMRO–DPMNE became the strongest party in the Parliament, but did not form a government, because it did not have a majority of seats and would have had to make a coalition with an ethnic Albanian party, which it refused to do. The party boycotted the second round of the 1994 elections claiming that fraud had happened in the first round. At the Kičevo Congress in 1995, deciding that it could not gain international support to form a government as long as it was nationalistic, VMRO–DPMNE became a moderate party with Christian Democratic orientation. After winning the 1998 election VMRO–DPMNE surprised many people when formed coalition government with the Democratic Party of Albanians. In 1999 the VMRO–DPMNE's candidate Boris Trajkovski was elected President, completing VMRO–DPMNE's takeover. Once in office Trajkovski pursued a much more moderate policy than expected.

In 2002 VMRO–DPMNE's government was defeated at the legislative elections. In an alliance with the Liberal Party of Macedonia, VMRO–DPMNE won 28 out of 120 seats. In 2004 Trajkovski died in a plane crash and Branko Crvenkovski was elected President, defeating the VMRO–DPMNE's candidate Saško Kedev.

The first leader of the VMRO–DPMNE was Ljubčo Georgievski, who served as prime minister from 1998 to 2002, and the current is Nikola Gruevski.

The party became the largest party in Parliament again after a net gain of over a dozen seats in the July 5, 2006 parliamentary elections. With 44 of 120 seats, the party is likely to form a government in coalition with an ethnic Albanian party again.

In May 15, 2007, the party became an observer-member of the European People's Party (EPP).

External links

• VMRO-DPMNE home page (in Macedonian)
• VMRO-DPMNE OK Ohrid home page (in Macedonian)
• VMRO-DPMNE home page (in English)