TIRANA, April 23 – North Macedonia’s first round of presidential elections was held on Monday, where the two Macedonian candidates were qualified for the run-off, while the Albanian candidate Blerim Reka came third.
Based on preliminary results, candidate Blerim Reka received 79,915 votes or 10.57 percent, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova won 319,240 votes (42.24 percent) and candidate Stevo Pendarovski received 323,846 votes, or 42.85 percent.
The candidate of the ruling coalition, Stevo Pendarovski and Macedonian opposition candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, will be competing on May 5 for the post of North Macedonia’s President during the run-off.
Following the results, Reka said he was pleased with the result achieved, adding that it has exceeded expectations. He said a political spring awaits in the future based on the votes won, as parliamentary elections are to be held very soon.
“We are pleased. This has exceeded our expectations. We have a great result and in all Albanian majority municipalities we are ahead, while we have received votes in all Macedonian municipalities. This is to be noted because, as we have said, our concept “Republic for All” is a universal concept for which all citizens of Macedonia will vote,” Reka said.
Reka also added that it will be very difficult to achieve a 40 percent voter registration during the second round.
The electoral process has been assessed as fair by the three presidential candidates, as well as by local and international organizations observing the elections.
Reka, backed by Albanian opposition parties ‘Aleanca’ and ‘Besa’ reiterated that he would not direct voters on who to cast their vote in the runoffs. He said he would assess the issue of joining politics after seeing whether he received more votes than the entire Democratic Union for Integration in the last local elections.
It is thought that those who voted for Reka will not support VMRO’s Siljanovska in the run-off due to her party’s nationalist rhetoric against Albanians.
In the runoff, 40 percent of registered voters must be present in order for the process to be counted valid.
