Seven candidates in race for North Macedonia president

Seven candidates will compete in the presidential elections in northern Macedonia, which will be held 24 April.

The State Election Commission (KSHZ) has indicated that by Friday at midnight, seven out of the 11 candidates submitted have managed to collect out of 10,000 signatures, as needed to participate in the presidential race.

The opposition VMRO DPMNE in the elections will compete with current deputies Gordana Siljanovska* Davidkova, who has collected 28,000 signatures.

The ruling Social Democratic League will compete with current president Stevo Pendarovski, who in the KSHZ has handed in about 22,000 signatures.

In the election race, the Democratic Union for Integration will compete with Foreign Affairs Minister Bujar Osmani, who has collected about 11,000 signatures, while the united Albanian opposition with Arben Taravari, current mayor of Gostivar, who collected more than 10,000 signatures.

Maksim Dimitrievski, the mayor of Kumanovo municipality, Stevce Jakimovski, chairman of the Karpos municipality in Skopje and Biljana Vankovska, party candidate “E May”

The ranking of candidates for the voting list will become known after the draw, which will be cast on 28 March.

The first round of presidential elections will be held on 24 April, while the second -- along with parliamentary elections -- on May 8th.

These elections are valued as very important for the country's European future, while also serving as a test for parliamentary elections to be held together with the second round of presidential elections.

According to public opinion research, the highest priority is V MRO opposition DPMNE to the LSDM, both for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Based on the current Constitution, in the first round, it is almost impossible to elect the president, as the candidate must get more than half the votes of the registered election list or half the votes of 1.8 million voters.

In the second round, two more candidates pass by, while the winner elects the most votes candidate, provided more than 40 per cent of the electorate appears in the elections.

The election campaign, which will last 20 days, will begin April 4th. / REL/