Politics of North Macedonia

Politics in North Macedonia occur within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated North Macedonia a "flawed democracy" in 2022.

Political system

North Macedonia's six electoral constituencies

The political system of North Macedonia consists of three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The Constitution is the highest law of the country. The political institutions are constituted by the will of its citizens by secret ballot at direct and general elections. Its political system of parliamentary democracy was established with the Constitution of 1991, which stipulates the basic principles of democracy and guarantees democratic civil freedom. The Elections for Representatives in the Assembly of North Macedonia is held in October. The Assembly is composed of 123 Representatives, who are elected for a period of four years. Out of this number, 120 are elected proportionally in 6 constituencies of 20 each, and 3 according to the majority principle, specifically for the diaspora (depending on turnout) (the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia representing one constituency). There are approximately 1.5 million voters registered in the General Electoral Roll for the election of Representatives in the Assembly of North Macedonia in 2.973 polling stations. The voting for the representatives is conducted according to the list system.

Presidents

• Kiro Gligorov (1991–1999)
• Boris Trajkovski (1999–2004)
• Branko Crvenkovski (2004–2009)
• Gjorge Ivanov (2009–2019)
• Stevo Pendarovski (2019–2024)
• Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova (2024–present)

Executive branch

Main office-holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova	VMRO-DPMNE	12 May 2024
Prime Minister	Hristijan Mickoski	VMRO-DPMNE	23 June 2024

President

Coat of arms of the president of North Macedonia

• cannot hold any other public office or position in a political party
• is elected for a 5-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms
• is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President of the Security Council
• nominates a candidate from the majority party or parties in the Assembly who then proposes the Government who are elected by the Assembly
• makes diplomatic appointments and some judicial and Security Council appointments
• grants decorations, honours and pardons

Government

The power of the president is fairly limited with all other executive power being vested in what the Constitution describes as the government, i.e., the prime minister and ministers.

Ministers:

• cannot be Representatives in the Assembly
• cannot hold any other public office or follow a profession while in office
• are elected by a majority vote in the Assembly
• are granted legal immunity
• cannot be called for service in the Armed Forces
• propose laws, budget and regulations to be adopted by the Assembly
• control diplomatic policy
• make other state appointments

Current cabinet

The current cabinet is a coalition of VMRO-DPMNE, the VLEN, and ZNAM. The members of the Cabinet of North Macedonia are chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the Assembly, however certain cabinet level positions are chosen by both President and Prime Minister, and approved by the Assembly.

Current government as of 23 June 2024

Member	Portfolio	Macedonio
Hristijan Mickoski	Prime Minister
Izet Mexhiti	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Environment and Physical Planning, Minister without Portfolio
Ljupco Dimovski	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Framework Agreement Implementation, Political system, Minister without Portfolio
Ivan Stoilković	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Community Relations, Minister without Portfolio
Orhan Murtenzai	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration, Minister without Portfolio
Arben Fetaj	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Good Governance Policies, Minister without Portfolio
Aleksandar Nikolovski	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Transport and Communication
Timčo Mucunski	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vlado Misajlovski	Minister of Defense
Panče Toshkovski	Minister of Internal Affairs
Gordana Dimitrievska Kočovska	Minister of Finance
Igor Filkov	Minister of Justice
Cvetan Tripunovski	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply
Fatmir Levani	Minister of Economy
Arben Taravari	Minister of Health
Vesna Janevska	Minister of Education and Science
Borko Ristovski	Minister of Sport
Stefan Andonovski	Minister of Digital Transformation
Goran Minčev	Minister of Information Society and Administration
Zlatko Perinski	Minister of Local Self-Government
Zoran Lyutkov	Minister of Culture
Gjoko Velkovski	Minister of Labor and Social Policy
Elvin Hasan	Minister without Portfolio for Attracting foreign investment
Xhemail Çupi	Minister without Portfolio
Zoran Sapurić	Minister without Portfolio to improve investment climate for domestic enterprises
Anita Angelovska-Bežoska	Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
Ljupco Švrgovski	Attorney General
Vasko Gjurčinovski	Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia

Legislative branch

Main article: Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia

Main article: List of political parties in North Macedonia

The Assembly (Sobranie) has 120 members, elected for a four-year term, by proportional representation. There are between 120 and 140 seats, currently there are 120; members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed list proportional representation vote. There is a possibility of three people being directly elected in diaspora constituencies by a simple majority vote provided there is sufficient voter turnout.

2020 election result

Main article: 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election

Politics of North Macedonia

15 July 2020
All 120 seats in the Assembly 61 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	52.02% ( 14.77pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– We Can! Zoran Zaev 35.89 46 −8 Renewal for Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski 34.57 44 −7 BDI Ali Ahmeti 11.48 15 +5 ASh–Alternativa Ziadin Sela 8.95 12 +9 Levica Dimitar Apasiev 4.10 2 +2 PDSh Menduh Thaçi 1.53 1 −1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by constituency Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Oliver Spasovski SDSM Zoran Zaev SDSM

Early parliamentary elections were held in North Macedonia on 15 July 2020. It was originally scheduled for November 2020, but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called early elections after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on joining the European Union in October 2019. The election date was set for 12 April, but was postponed until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.

2024 election result

Main article: 2024 North Macedonian parliamentary election

The election resulted in a landslide victory for the national conservative VMRO-DPMNE and its Your Macedonia coalition, winning 58 seats in the Sobranie, just three shy of an outright majority. Their main rivals, the incumbent pro-European SDSM and its For a European Future coalition, ended up in distant third place, winning 18 seats, their worst ever result. All other parties and coalitions that won seats include: the European Front coalition with 18 seats and the VLEN Coalition with 14 seats (both representing national minorities), the left-wing nationalist The Left with six seats, as well as the left-wing populist For Our Macedonia Movement (ZNAM) with six seats. Turnout was 55%. While initially allocated 19 and 13 seats respectively, following repollings in Ohrid, Struga and other areas on 22 May 2024 led to the European Front losing one seat in favor of the VLEN coalition allowing SDSM and its For a European Future coalition to become the second biggest group in the Assembly.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Your Macedonia	436,407	44.58	58	+14
	For a European Future	154,447	15.78	18	–28
	European Front	137,690	14.06	18	+3
	VLEN Coalition	106,937	10.92	14	+2
	The Left	68,637	7.01	6	+4
	For Our Macedonia	56,232	5.74	6	New
	Brave for Macedonia	4,522	0.46	0	–1
	New Alternative	3,515	0.36	0	0
	Abaja	2,908	0.30	0	New
	Your Party	1,794	0.18	0	0
	United Macedonia	1,688	0.17	0	New
	Homeland Macedonia	1,099	0.11	0	New
	Macedonian Era Third – Sovereignists	966	0.10	0	New
	Democrats Skopje	912	0.09	0	0
	The Right	535	0.05	0	New
	Labour Party	450	0.05	0	0
	European Civic Movement	241	0.02	0	New
Total		978,980	100.00	120	0
Valid votes		978,980	97.27
Invalid/blank votes		27,451	2.73
Total votes		1,006,431	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,815,350	55.44
Source: SEC

Judicial branch

Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges, of which there are 22 in the Supreme Court, and 9 in the Constitutional Court. Supreme Court judges nominated by the Judicial Council, a 7-member body of legal professionals, and appointed by the Assembly; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the Assembly for nonrenewable, 9-year terms

Administrative divisions

With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (општини, opštini; singular: општина, opština. The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as "the City of Skopje". Municipalities in North Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish cooperative arrangements.

Ethnic diversity

The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically based political parties representing the country's Macedonian majority and Albanian minority. The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of North Macedonia

North Macedonia is member of the ACCT, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NATO, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Most notable relations with other countries include: Greece, China the US and Kosovo amongst others.

Greece

North Macedonia and Greece have excellent economic, trade and business relations, with Greece being the largest investor in the country. Until the Prespa Agreement (2018), the indeterminate status of North Macedonia's former name arose from a long-running dispute with Greece. The main points of the dispute were: The flag: the use of Vergina Sun, a Greek state symbol, on the initial national flag used between 1992 and 1995 Constitutional issues: certain articles of the constitution that were seen as claims on Greek territory. The naming issue was "parked" in a compromise agreed at the United Nations in 1993. However, Greece refused to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic and imposed an economic blockade that lasted until the flag and constitutional issues were resolved in 1995 with the Interim Accord. The naming dispute was resolved with the Prespa Agreement, which was signed in 2018 and entered into force in February 2019.

United States

The United States and North Macedonia enjoy excellent bilateral relations. The United States formally recognised North Macedonia on 8 February 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on 13 September 1995. The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S. Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996. The development of political relations between the United States and North Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states. In 2004, the United States recognised the country under its constitutional name of that time – Republic of Macedonia.

China

On 12 October 1993, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) established diplomatic relations with North Macedonia expressly declaring that the Government of the PRC is the sole legal government of China, and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The Government of North Macedonia affirmed it would not establish any form of official relations with Taiwan.

See also

• Electoral units of North Macedonia

Further reading

• Mattioli, Fabio (2020). Dark Finance: Illiquidity and Authoritarianism at the Margins of Europe. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-1294-5.