Local elections were held on October 2021 to elect councilors and mayors in 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje in

North 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 ...

. The first round was held on 17 October, while the second round was held on 31 October. The elections were announced on 6 August 2021 by the Speaker of the Assembly

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 ...

. According to the State Election Commission's calendar, the deadline for submitting candidacies for councilor and mayor lists was 11 September 2021. The election campaign lasted from 27 September to 15 October.

Background and elections

The Speaker of the Assembly

on 6 August 2021 scheduled the local elections for 17 October. In the next day, the State Election Commission set a deadline for submitting candidates until 11 September, while it permitted campaigning from 27 September to 15 October. During the election campaigns,

Hristijan Mickoski Hristijan Mickoski (, ; born 29 September 1977) is a Macedonian politician and former mechanical engineer, currently serving as Prime Minister of North Macedonia, a position he has held since June 2024. He is also a university professor and the p ...

alleged "corruption of the state by

Zoran Zaev Zoran Zaev (, ; born 8 October 1974) is a Macedonian economist and politician who served as prime minister of North Macedonia from May 2017 to January 2020, and again from August 2020 to January 2022. Prior to entering politics, he ran a privat ...

and his entourage." The first round of the elections was held on 17 October. It was the first election in North Macedonia that utilised biometric fingerprint readers for the identification of voters. In the first round, mayors were elected in 34 municipalities. VMRO-DPMNE won in the first round in 22 municipalities, SDSM won in 9, and DUI in 3 municipalities. The second round occurred on 31 October.

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 ...

won 42 municipalities. Independent candidate

Danela Arsovska Danela Arsovska () is a North Macedonia, Macedonian politician and academic and the Mayor of the City of Skopje, mayor of Skopje since 2021. In 2014, she was elected as President of the Macedonian Chambers of Commerce, which is the union of nat ...

, supported by VMRO-DPMNE, became the first woman to lead Skopje since the country's independence, winning against SDSM's Petre Šilegov.

SDSM The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia ( – СДСМ, ''Socijaldemokratski sojuz na Makedonija'' – SDSM, – LSDM) is a social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in North Macedonia, political party, and the main Centre-l ...

won 16 mayor seats, DUI – 13, and Besa – 2, while DPA and LDP-DOM's coalition one each. Apart from Arsovska, three other independent candidates became mayors. DUI's

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

mayor Teuta Arifi was defeated by Besa's Bilal Kasami.

Alliance for Albanians The Alliance for the Albanians (, ASH; , AA) is a centre-right political party founded in 2015 in North Macedonia by Ziadin Sela. The party has as its main goal the achievement of the full national equality between Albanians and Macedonians i ...

Arben Taravari Arben Taravari (; born 9 April 1973) is a Macedonian doctor and politician. He was elected mayor of Gostivar Municipality in 2017. He served as Minister of Health in 2017, and 2024 to 2025. A member of the Alliance for Albanians, he came fifth o ...

won a new four-year term in

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

. In

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

, Maksim Dimitrievski won as an independent candidate, defeating SDSM's Oliver Ilievski.

Mayoral results

Council results

Aftermath

Due to the negative results, Zaev resigned from his positions as leader of SDSM and prime minister. There was a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

(submitted by VMRO-DPMNE) of the Government of North Macedonia in 11 November, but due to 60 votes, it was not voted out. Minister of Finance

Dimitar Kovačevski Dimitar Kovačevski (, ; born 24 July 1974) is a Macedonian politician and economist who served as prime minister of North Macedonia from January 2022 to January 2024. A member of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Kovačevski p ...

succeeded Zaev as party leader and prime minister. In March 2022,

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

stated: "The October 2021 local elections in North Macedonia were competitive and fundamental freedoms were widely respected, but shortcomings in the legal framework underscore the need for a comprehensive reform."

References and notes

{{reflist 2021 elections in Europe 2021 in North Macedonia October 2021 in Europe

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...