The Democratic Union for Integration (, ) is the largest ethnic
Albanian political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
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 ...
and the third largest political party in the country. It was formed immediately after the country's
2001 armed conflict between the
National Liberation Army and Macedonian security forces. NLA founder
Ali Ahmeti has been the party's president ever since.
History
The party was founded on 5 June 2002 by former NLA leader
Ali Ahmeti, who has been the party's president ever since.
In the
2002 parliamentary election, the party won 12.1% of the popular vote (roughly 70% of the Albanian vote) and 16 of 120 seats,
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1278 compared to 7 seats by
Democratic Party of Albanians and 2 seats by
Party for Democratic Prosperity.
From 2002 to 2006, it was part of the ruling "Together for Macedonia" coalition along with the
Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the
Liberal Democratic Party.
In the
2006 parliamentary election, the party formed a coalition with the
Party for Democratic Prosperity and the
Democratic League of Bosniaks. This coalition received 12.2% of the vote and 16 seats. Although DUI won the most seats among ethnic Albanian parties (13), since their governmental partners lost the election, it was not invited by the newly elected 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, ...
to participate in the government. Its place was taken by the second-largest ethnic Albanian political party, the
Democratic Party of the Albanians.
However, after the
2008 early parliamentary election, the party returned to the government in a coalition with Gruevski's
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 ...
.
In the
2011 parliamentary election, DUI received 10.2% of the total vote, winning 15 seats, a loss of 3 seats from the previous election. DUI had the best election result in the
2014 parliamentary election when it received 153,646 votes (14.2%), winning 19 seats, and had the worst result in the next election in 2016, receiving 86,796 votes (7.5%). In 2016, DUI entered the government in a coalition with SDSM.
In the campaign for the
2020 parliamentary election, DUI made its participation in any coalition contingent on the nominee for Prime Minister being an ethnic Albanian, which both SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE have refused. On 18 August, SDSM and DUI reached a deal on a coalition government as well as a compromise on the issue of an ethnic Albanian Prime Minister.
On
World Environment Day in 2021, Ahmeti announced the party will focus more on
environmental issues, citing
Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...
's activism as inspiring the party's new direction.
In 28 January
Talat Xhaferi of Democratic Union for Integration has been elected as prime minister of the technical government of
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 ...
which, in accordance with the
Pržino Agreement The Pržino agreement or agreement from 2 June – 15 July 2015 was a political agreement between the main political parties in the Republic of Macedonia with the mediation of the European Union. The agreement ended the Macedonian political and inst ...
, will lead the country in the 100 days prior to the
parliamentary elections
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
scheduled for 8 May.
Election results
Presidential elections
Assembly elections
Notes
References
External links
Democratic Union for Integration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Union For Integration
2002 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia
Albanian political parties in North Macedonia
Political parties established in 2002
Pro-European political parties in North Macedonia