Local elections in Macedonia held on 15 October

In line with legal obligations as head of the Republic of Macedonia's Parliament and in line with the deadlines set out in the Electoral Code, I announce local elections, which, according to legal provisions, will be held on October 15, 2017, said Talat Xhaferi, chairman of the Assembly.

He has called on political parties to respect legal procedures to ensure free and democratic election processes.

I prefer to all participants in the election process, in the pre-election period and on Election Day, to comply with the Constitution and legal provisions, while competent institutions ensure that the entire election process and the election day itself will flow into the quiet, correct and democratic atmosphere, just as respected citizens of the Republic of Macedonia deserve, said Talat Xhaferi, chairman of Kuwait.

The election campaign begins twenty days before the election hold day, and during this period Macedonia's Parliament will work, but will not hold plenary sessions. This, as the chief parliament said, is done in order for MPs to have the opportunity to devote themselves to the election campaign and at the same time not create space for the plenary sessions to turn into election campaigns.

The October 15th local elections are seen as a test in particular for political parties, in particular for LSDM and VMRO, which in parliamentary elections had almost equal results in mandates.

The elections will be of interest even in Albanian parties after the new parties' appearance, which Democratic Union for Integration mandates halved by half. Local elections will be held in 82 municipalities and in Skopje, as a special unit of local government.