Parliamentary Elections in Macedonia: Inconclusive Result, Continued Instability?
Parliamentary Elections in Macedonia: Inconclusive Result, Continued Instability?

Summary/Abstract: Macedonia held early parliamentary elections on 11 December 2016. They were part of the EU mediated process to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis. The poll led to a narrow majority for the former ruling coalition of VMRO-DPMNE and DUI, but also substantial gains for the opposition SDSM. Even though DUI has governed with VMRO-DPMNE for many years,it has not ruled out a potential change of coalition partner. Still, irrespective of the party’s decision and the outcome of negotiations, it seems unlikely that either of the possible coalitions will result in a stable government, needed to initiate an important step towards crisis resolution. The article argues that both constellations are based on very tight majorities and face foreseeable internal frictions as well as external pressure that would soon put the partnership to a hard political test.The outcome of post-electoral negotiations might thus well be another early parliamentary election, potentially in May 2017 together with the local elections. It remains an open question ,however, if such a re-run would lead to a different result and enhance the changes for a continuation of the reform process.

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