The three-week local election campaign in North Macedonia has begun today (September 29). The mayoral candidates from the VLEN coalition, Izet Mexhiti and Bilall Kasami, have today announced their platforms for the projects they promise if elected mayors in Čair and Tetovo.
Izet Mexhiti said that he will free Çairi from the monopoly of one party and that he will make it a modern city.
“This is not just a candidacy for mayor. This is the beginning of a mission for liberation from the one-party monopoly. A mission to break the old and corrupt system of one party, which kept Albanians and all citizens of Chair in dependence, fear and insecurity. The essence of democracy is change, pluralism, and not the rule of one party that identifies with the state. It is time to put an end to this monopoly, and for Chair to be the leader again, as always! Our vision is clear: for Chair to become a modern, functional and European municipality. A place where every citizen will live with dignity. Therefore, our program is not a wish list, but a concrete and feasible plan that we have already started to implement. While others talk, we act”, said Mexhiti.
Kasami said that his first mandate was for emergency interventions and solutions to basic problems, while he promised several projects in his second mandate.
“Tetova will be an open and transparent municipality, with regular communication with journalists, an online platform for complaints and ideas, and 6-month work reports for each sector of the municipality. Citizens apply online, receive a response without waiting and follow the status of the request with a reference number and response deadline. Parents’ councils, local communities and their Union will have an active role in decision-making in our Tetova. We will further develop public enterprises, while we will professionalize and digitalize their services. Priorities during this mandate: 24/7 water, modern sewage, covering every settlement with public lighting, road maintenance, efficient municipal waste management, functional public transport and a parking strategy, which will reduce traffic in the center, as well as solve the problem with parking in our city.”
“For water, we foresee the installation and modernization of infrastructure with digital water meters, renovated primary and secondary networks, the provision of additional quantities of water, as well as a sedimentation tank for the purification of water coming from the Leshnica springs. A sewage collector and a plant (filter station) for the purification of sewage, as well as a collector for atmospheric waters at the city’s exit points to avoid flooding and blockages of underpasses,” said Kasami.
The National Alliance for Integration coalition opened its youth headquarters in Tetovo tonight, from where the candidate for mayor of this city, Bajram Rexhepi, unveiled his vision if elected mayor.
“We must initiate economic development that befits our great capital. Together with you, we will build Podra e Diellit – a symbol of light, hope and rebirth for Tetova and the entire region,” – Rexhepi told the citizens.
He emphasized that Tetovo has always been the heart of Albanians, and this status must not only be preserved, but also strengthened through investments and sustainable development.
“We must make Tetova the capital of Albanianness again, because that is what it has been and that is what it will always be,” he said.
Last night in Skopje, the AKI held a promotional convention where it presented the candidates for mayor. Ali Ahmeti said that the current government is touching on the Ohrid Agreement, while he also had a message for Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.
“This government, together with its vassals and vassals, attempted to touch and destroy the Ohrid Agreement. Touching the Albanian language, removing the balancer, etc. The Ohrid Agreement must be respected by everyone. Mickoski wants to be the bravest of the brave, Hristijan with his mercenaries, with one mistake after another, only to mobilize the Albanians. We do not throw stones and hide our hands, because the government accused us of starting fires, of wanting to burn mosques, of wanting to kill one of their candidates, these are terrible slanders!”.
“Mickoski faces well-specialized cadres and teams in all fields, because each of our candidates is better than the other. Hristijan, with greyhounds on the hunt, he goes out for rabbits and not for eagles. Eagles fly high, greyhounds save for rabbits,” said Ahmeti.
The 2025 local elections are the eighth since the country’s independence, and the fourth in which mayors and lists of councilors are elected in 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje. Voting will be held in 3,480 polling stations for 309 candidates for mayor and 576 lists of candidates for members of municipal councils, or a total of 10,490 candidates.
22 parties, 19 coalitions and 119 voter groups, i.e. independent candidates, are participating in the elections. The city of Skopje has the largest number of mayoral candidates – 16.
According to the Electoral Code, local elections are held every four years in the second half of October. Local self-government is organized into 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje as a separate unit of local self-government. /Telegrafi/