Macedonian Opposition May Dispute Election Results

Macedonia's opposition Social Democratic party, SDSM, said it may not recognize the results of the presidential and general elections on April 27, which it is widely expected to lose.

The ruling VMRO DPMNE party said the Social Democrats were looking for an excuse for what seemed an inevitable defeat.

“The first round [of the presidential election on April 13] showed that the elections are not fair and democratic and that there is no fair chance for the opposition to win. If by April 27 the government’s audacity and insolence continue, all options are open,” the SDSM head, Zoran Zaev, told media.

On April 13, Macedonians chose between four presidential candidates in the first round of presidential election. Incumbent president Gjorge Ivanov, who is running for a second term for the ruling VMRO DPMNE party, won 449,000 votes, while his main rival, the SDSM candidate, Stevo Pendarovski, came second with 326,000 votes.

But the opposition blamed the difference of more than 120,000 votes on election fraud. It claimed the electoral roll had been manipulated and said the ruling party effectively controlled the votes of civil servants.

“We are giving it a chance until the last moment," Zaev said. "We have done so by participating in talks on the electoral rulebook, by signing a codex and statements for fair and democratic elections… But if all this is ignored, the opposition neither intends nor has the right to facilitate the regime and its further existence,” Zaev added.

The VMRO DPMNE party, led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, noted that that the SDSM had not filed a single complaint about the first round of voting, which it said suggested the party was looking for an alibi for its coming...