The November 2 runoff in Skopje, the prize in this year’s local elections, is shaping up to be a litmus test of the mood of an electorate that seems weary of long-standing political stagnation.
For the past three decades, the capital, home to half-a-million residents and more than a quarter of the country’s total population of 1.8 million, has been the scene of contests between the two dominant political forces, the currently main ruling VMRO DPMNE party and the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM.
Now a newcomer, Amar Mecinovic from the Levica [Left] party, has broken the mould. In the first round of the elections, on October 19, he beat the SDSM candidate, Kaja Shukova, so qualifying for the second round against the frontrunner, VMRO DPMNE’s Orce Gjorgjievski, a seasoned figure backed by a powerful party apparatus.
Gjorgjievski remains the strong favourite, winning three times more votes than Mecinovic in the first round. Still, some observers say the latter may at least show that many voters crave political fresh air – if he can motivate an army of disillusioned and politically and ethnically diverse voters to turn out and cast their ballots for him.