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North Macedonia’s ruling centre-right party, VMRO-DPMNE, secured a decisive victory in the first round of the 2025 local elections held on Sunday, taking the lead in 53 of the country’s 81 municipalities, according to preliminary results released by the State Election Commission.
The party’s success was particularly notable in ethnic Macedonian-majority areas, including the capital, Skopje, where VMRO-DPMNE candidate Orce Georgievski advanced to the second round to face Amar Mecinovic of the Levica party. In over 30 municipalities, VMRO-DPMNE secured more than 50% of the votes, winning the mayoral races outright in the first round.
Prime Minister and party leader Hristijan Mickoski hailed the victory, stating, “We ensured this victory through work and persistence. The road is not easy, but Macedonia has strength, people, and will.”
The main opposition, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), experienced a significant defeat, leading in only eight municipalities and losing its longtime stronghold of Strumica. In Skopje, SDSM’s mayoral candidate Kaja Shukova did not qualify for the runoff.
SDSM leader Venko Filipce described the results as “not what we hoped for” but emphasized that the party would continue its efforts to consolidate and reconnect with voters.
In municipalities with a majority Albanian population, the race was more competitive. The VLEN coalition emerged as a prominent force, winning five municipalities outright and leading in four others, including Tetovo and the Cair municipality of Skopje.
The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), led by veteran politician Ali Ahmeti, won only Gostivar and filed complaints alleging irregularities in several areas.
Turkish parties collectively secured 17,813 votes for municipal council positions, according to preliminary figures from the State Election Commission.
The Turkish Democratic Party (TDP), which fielded mayoral candidates in three municipalities and council lists in 24 municipalities, received 14,862 votes. Although TDP emerged as the leading party in Central Zupa by a wide margin, the elections there will be rerun due to insufficient voter turnout, providing the party an opportunity for an even greater victory.
The Turkish National Unity Movement (TMBH) participated independently with mayoral candidates in two municipalities and council lists in ten municipalities, obtaining 2,271 votes in total. Following the annulment of the Skopje Metropolitan list, the valid vote count was adjusted to 1,988.
The Turkish Movement Party (THP) maintained its coalition with SDSM in some areas while fielding its own mayoral and council lists in others. THP received 680 votes from three council lists, running in Central Zupa for both mayor and council positions and in Plasnitsa and Studenican for council positions only.
The State Election Commission will finalize the allocation of municipal council seats once all votes are confirmed.
A runoff will be held on November 2 in municipalities where no candidate secured over 50% of the vote.
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