The 20-day long election campaign in North Macedonia ends on Sunday midnight which has served the political parties and coalitions to present their programs to the citizens in the country.
For the first time elections will be held in extraordinary circumstances, considering the coronavirus pandemic situation. Health authorities confirmed that voting will be safe despite the increasing numbers of new infections and fatalities recorded in the country in recent days.
Based on the safety protocols set by health authorities, the elections will take place on July 15, not on a Sunday, and the voting will last two hours longer than usual, until 9 p.m. local time, as opposed to the usual 7 p.m. closing time.
As it is reported by local media the main race in these elections is expected to be seen between the two main political blocs, one led by Zoran Zaev’s Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), and the other by the VMRO-DPMNE party, led by Hristijan Mickoski.
SDSM in these early parliamentary elections has joined forces with the BESA movement under the slogan “We can”, whereas the VMRO-DPMNE party represents the alliance “Renewal of Macedonia.”
DUI leader Ali Ahmeti and the candidate for first Albanian PM, Naser Ziberi, together with MP candidates in all six constituencies held a news conference on Sunday evening.
Ahmeti said as quoted by MIA news agency on Sunday that the party’s candidate Ziberi had more experience than his two rivals – SDM’s Zoran Zaev and VMRO-DPMNE’s Hristjan Mickoski- combined together, and had never been involved in a scandal.
“It’s time the new generation, whose representatives are standing behind me, to show their worth and you, the voters – the decided and the undecided, women and men, young and old – to vote for us,” Ahmeti said, adding that DUI’s idea for Albanian PM dated back to its second congress, held on December 17, 2009 in Skopje.
According to the State Election Commission, a total of 1,578 candidates from 15 parties and coalitions will race in the elections. /argumentum.al