Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006

Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006

5 July 2006
All 120 seats to the Sobranie
First party Second party   Leader Nikola Gruevski Vlado Bučkovski Party VMRO–DPMNE SDSM Alliance VMRO coalition Together for Macedonia Last election 33 seats 61 Seats won 45 32 Seat change +12 –29 Popular vote 303,543 218,164 Percentage 32.5% 23.3%
PM before election Vlado Bučkovski SDSM Elected PM Nikola Gruevski VMRO–DPMNE

Parliamentary elections were in Macedonia on 5 July 2006. The result was a victory for the VRMO-DPNME-led coalition, which won 45 of the 120 seats.

Electoral system

The country was divided into six constituencies that elected 20 members each by proportional representation. Seats were allocated using the d'Hondt method with an electoral threshold of 5%.

Campaign

The international community sent 6,000 observers to monitor electoral procedures, as NATO and European Union officials saw the elections as a key test of Macedonian ambitions of joining both organizations after local elections in March 2005 were marred by irregularities. The 2006 election campaign was marked by serious cross-political confrontations, occasionally resulting in violence, mainly between, but not limited to, the two major ethnic Albanian parties - the Democratic Union for Integration and the Democratic Party of Albanians. The situation was seen as seriously tarnishing the international reputation of the country. As the confrontations between the ethnic Albanian parties intensified, a diplomatic offensive from Western officials took place to put an end to the irregularities. These efforts were supported by the ethnic Macedonian parties, but also by calls from the Albanian and Kosovan prime ministers. The situation within the Albanian bloc didn't seem to improve much and, moreover, on 22 June 2006 in the center of Skopje, a clash between the two major ethnic Macedonian parties (VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM) also took place.

The representatives of the EU and the United States continued with their efforts to stop the irregularities. NATO warned it over pre-election violence or risk delays the country's ambitions to join the military alliance. (NATO intervention in 2001 helped prevent ethnic conflict developing into full-scale civil war.) Problems within the Macedonian bloc stopped immediately, and incidents between the Albanian parties also progressively stopped. The last week of the election campaign was calm, with almost no incidents.

Results

Coalition or party		Votes	%	Seats
Coalition	VRMO-DPNME	303,543	32.5	38
	Liberal Party of Macedonia			2
	Socialist Party of Macedonia			3
	Democratic Union			1
	Union of Roma in Macedonia			1
	Party for the Movement of Turks in Macedonia			0
	Party of Democratic Action of Macedonia			0
	Party of Vlachs of Macedonia			0
	European Party of Macedonia			0
	Party of the Greens			0
	People's Movement of Macedonia			0
	Democratic Party of the Bosniaks			0
	Party of the Democratic Forces of Roma in Macedonia			0
	Party for Roma Integration			0
Together for Macedonia	Social Democratic Union of Macedonia	218,164	23.3	23
	Liberal Democratic Party			5
	Democratic Party of Turks			2
	United Party of Romas in Macedonia			1
	Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia			1
	Democratic Union of Vlachs			0
	Workers-Peasant Party			0
	Socialist Christian Party of Macedonia			0
	Green Party of Macedonia			0
Coalition	Democratic Union for Integration	114,301	12.2	13
	Party for Democratic Prosperity			3
	Democratic League of Bosniaks			0
Democratic Party of Albanians		70,137	7.5	11
VMRO-People's Party		57,204	6.1	6
New Social Democratic Party		57,049	6.1	7
Democratic Renewal of Macedonia		17,592	1.9	1
Party for Economic Renewal		13,114	1.4	0
Agricultural People's Party of Macedonia		12,622	1.3	0
Party for a European Future		11,441	1.2	1
Democratic Alternative		11,175	1.2	0
Social Democratic Party		8,375	0.9	0
National Democratic Party		4,491	0.5	0
National Alternative		4,254	0.5	0
New Democratic Forces-Democratic Alliance of Albanians		4,142	0.4	0
Union of Tito's Left Forces		2,990	0.3	0
Democratic-Republican Union of Macedonia		2,674	0.3	0
League for Democracy		2,664	0.3	0
Macedonian Party		2,212	0.2	0
Party for a Democratic Future		1,472	0.2	0
TMRO		1,428	0.2	0
Radical Party of the Serbs in Macedonia		1,274	0.1	0
United Macedonians		1,270	0.1	0
VRMO-Democratic Party		1,222	0.1	0
Leftist Forces of Macedonia		1,186	0.1	0
Movement for National Unity of Turks		899	0.1	0
TMORO-VEP		731	0.1	0
Communist Party of Macedonia		602	0.1	0
DPM-Tetovo		585	0.1	0
Centre of Democratic Forces		133	0.0	0
Democratic Party "Go Macedonia–Forza"		76	0.0	0
Independents		6,157	0.7	1
Invalid/blank votes		37,931	–	–
Total		973,110	100	120
Registered voters/turnout		1,741,449	56.1	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

There were no major problems on the election day (5 July 2006), with only minor irregularities in the Western part of the country. The counting of the votes also passed almost without any objections. The government of the Republic of Macedonia, the EU and the United States dubbed the elections "a success".

The results showed a clear victory for the coalition led by the centre-right opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, obtaining 45 of the 120 seats in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. The coalition of its centre-left political opponent, SDSM, won 35 seats. The majority of Albanian votes were given to the DUI - PDP coalition (17 seats), while DPA won 11 seats. Other parties that won seats in the Parliament include: NSDP (7 seats), VMRO-NP (6 seats), DOM (1 seat), PEI (1 seat).

After unsuccessful negotiations between VMRO-DPMNE and DUI considering the structure of the new government, Nikola Gruevski decided to form a government with the Democratic Party of Albanians. After a tough negotiation process (especially between VMRO-DPMNE and NSDP), in August 2006, Gruevski announced that the new government will be composed of VMRO-DPMNE, DPA, NSDP, DOM, and PEI (65 seats in the Parliament, in total).

The DUI - PDP coalition, revolted because they have not been invited in the new government, started protests throughout the Albanian-dominated parts of the country. In May 2007, PDP has decided to accept Gruevski's offer to join the govennment, and since June the PDP is also a coalition partner in the Gruevski's government.