Local elections were held on October 14–15 and 28–29, 2017, in the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

to elect mayors and members of municipality councils of the 80 municipalities in Macedonia. These were the sixth local elections since the independence of Macedonia. The mandates of the current mayors and municipality councils ran out on May 22, and unlike those of government ministers, they are not automatically prolonged until new ones are elected. The delay in this respect prevented institutions under municipal authority, such as schools, kindergartens, public enterprises, fire-fighting units, to execute their duties. The new parliamentary majority extended the mandate of the local councils and mayors until new election are held. On June 3 the newly established government set October 15, 2017 as the date of the upcoming local elections. On August 6, Macedonian parliament speaker

Talat Xhaferi Talat Xhaferi (; born 15 April 1962) is a Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of North Macedonia from January to June 2024. He previously served as the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia from 2017 to 2024 ...

announced that local elections would be held October 15, 2017. The local elections were held as scheduled, on October 15, 2017. The election started in 7AM (local time) and the process was held in relatively peaceful mood, with several minor incidents throughout the country. The polling stations were closed 12 hours later. However, only 45 municipalities elected a mayor in the first round, and 35 had to vote again on October 29. The second round of the local elections was held as scheduled, October 29, 2017. The election started in 7AM (local time) and the process was held in relatively peaceful mood, with several minor incidents throughout the country. The polling stations were closed 12 hours later. In both of the first two rounds, voting was held a day early (October 14 and 28) for hospitalized and disadvantaged persons, and those in home detention or prison. A third round re-vote was held on November 12 in the municipality of Čair only.

Results

Incidents and reactions

Alit Abazi, an independent candidate for the council of

Kičevo Municipality Kičevo Municipality (; ) is a municipality in the western part of North Macedonia. The municipal seat is the city of Kičevo. Kičevo Municipality is located in the Southwestern Statistical Region. Geography The municipality borders Mavrovo and ...

, was killed in public with a hand gun, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement that the murder was not politically motivated. The house of

Vlado Misajlovski Vlado Misajlovski (born 21 January 1985) is a politician from North Macedonia. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications in the cabinet of Nikola Gruevski from 13 May 2015, until 31 May 2017. Early life Misajlovski studied in Skopje ...

, a candidate for mayor in

Gjorche Petrov Gyorche Petrov Nikolov,(; ) born Georgi Petrov Nikolov(; ) (April 2, 1865 – June 28, 1921), was a Macedonian Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).Elvis Bajram, a candidate for mayor in Shuto Orizari, was attacked with a metal pipe after arguing with activists of the opposing candidate. An NGO activist from Struga was beaten after speaking against

Ziadin Sela Ziadin Sela (; born 1 November 1972 in the village of Livada in Struga) is an Albanian politician and former chair of the Alliance for Albanians The Alliance for the Albanians (, ASH; , AA) is a centre-right political party founded in 2015 i ...

, leader of the Alliance for the Albanians. Voters were caught trying to photograph the ballot and were immediately arrested. People were also arrested for inciting and participating in physical showdowns. Polling stations were briefly closed until the situations were sorted out. The leading opposition party,

VMRO-DPMNE The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (), abbreviated as VMRO-DPMNE (), is a conservative and the main centre-right to right-wing political party in North Macedonia. It was establ ...

filed dozens of complaints all of which were rejected by the State Election Commission. The leader of the party, former prime-minister

Nikola Gruevski Nikola Gruevski (, pronounced ; born 31 August 1970) is a former Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Macedonian protests, ...

, said that he does not recognize the election as free and democratic and asked for an early parliamentary election. After losing in Struga, the city's former mayor Sela said that he does not recognize the result and called

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

to a showdown at an early parliamentary election. The

Besa Movement The Besa Movement (; ) is a centre-right ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia. It was formed in November 2014 by Bilal Kasami, Afrim Gashi Afrim Gashi (; born 9 November 1977) is a Macedonian politician and the speaker of the A ...

reported that irregularities were noted and complaints were filed.БЕСА: Регистрирани се низа неправилности, се подготвуваат соодветни жалби
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References

{{Macedonian elections 2017 elections in Europe 2017 in the Republic of Macedonia October 2017 in Europe

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