North Macedonia’s ruling right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party, led by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, appears to be on the verge of a landslide victory in the October 19 local elections, securing mayoral wins in numerous key municipalities in the first round of voting.

Preliminary results indicated that VMRO-DPMNE secured a commanding advantage over its rivals, with the party and its coalition partners leading in 54 municipalities with 51.48% of votes counted by the State Election Commission (SEC).

The elections, held in all 80 municipalities, including Skopje, featured 309 candidates running for 81 mayoral posts and over 10,000 contenders for municipal councils. The campaign began on September 29, with a potential second round set for November 2.

According to the State Election Commission, voter turnout stood at 46.5% by 6:30 p.m. Across 3,474 polling stations, more than 1.8mn citizens were eligible to vote in the country’s eighth local elections since independence.

“VMRO-DPMNE is on the verge of a huge victory — the difference is somewhere around 3:1. In some municipalities, it’s 6:1 or even 10:1, and in some places SDSM (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia) is the third party,” said North Macedonia’s defence minister from VMRO-DPMNE, Vlado Misajlovski.

He confirmed that VMRO-DPMNE had already won mayoral races in Kisela Voda, Ohrid, Radovish, Berovo, Gjorche Petrov, Gazi Baba, Pehchevo, Delchevo, Prilep, Bitola, Gevgelija, Sopishte, Shtip, Veles, Butel, Aerodrom, Jegunovce and Vevcani, among others.

Misajlovski hailed the results as “a historic victory”, saying they reflected citizens’ confidence in the government’s policies.

He dismissed allegations of irregularities by the opposition Social Democrats, arguing that “the difference is so convincing and huge that there is no room for such an alibi”.

Among the ethnic Albanian parties, the ruling coalition partner VLEN appeared to be leading ahead of the opposition Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). Early indications suggest that VLEN’s performance could significantly weaken the DUI’s traditional dominance in key municipalities such as Tetovo.

The Ministry of Interior reported that the vote was proceeding in a peaceful, fair and democratic atmosphere.

In the capital Skopje, VMRO-DPMNE’s candidate Orce Gjeorgjievski appears poised to secure the mayoral seat.

According to preliminary results released by the SEC at 10:30 pm, Gjorgjievski leads with 41.35% of the vote, based on 48.5% of ballots counted.

He is followed by Amar Mecinovic of the Left (Levica) with 12.8%, Bashkim Bakiu of VLEN with 12.2%, Kaja Shukova of the SDSM with 11.1%, and Skender Rexhepi of the National Alliance for Albanians (NAI) with 10.8%.

Gjeorgjievski faces significant challenges in restoring Skopje’s infrastructure and public trust following years of stagnation under outgoing independent mayor Danela Arsovska.

Mickoski said on October 8 that following VMRO-DPMNE’s expected victory in the local elections, it would be logical to consider holding early parliamentary elections to secure a new four-year mandate. The VMRO-DPMNE-led government came to power in June 2024 after defeating the SDSM in May general elections.

In the previous 2021 local elections, VMRO-DPMNE won 41 municipalities, while SDSM took 17 and the DUI secured 11. This year’s strong showing further consolidates Mickoski’s dominance on the national political stage, ahead of the November runoff.