Voters in North Macedonia went to the polls on 15 July in snap parliamentary elections with preliminary results indicating a narrow victory for the pro-western coalition led by the Social Democrats.

The elections, originally scheduled for April 12 , were put on hold due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and were called by then-Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on joining the European Union in October 2019.

The Liberal Party of North Macedonia (LDP), a member of the ALDE Party, participated in the election as part of the coalition list ‘Можеме!’ (‘We Can!’) of 25 parties led by SDSM, whose campaign amongst other things emphasised their role in the country's Euro-Atlantic integration, including resolving the dispute with Greece and securing NATO membership.

According to preliminary results from the State Electoral Commission, the ‘We can!’ list finished top of the polls with 35.89% of the vote, ahead of VMRO at 34.57%. This result forecasts 46 mandates for ‘We Can’, and 44 mandates for VMRO.

LDP had three candidates running for election and of these EWA Alumna Monika Zajkova and Bobi Mojsoski won election to the next parliament.

61 seats is needed for a majority in the parliament of 120, so coalition talks will begin shortly to try to form a new government.

Amid rising numbers of positive Coronavirus cases, turnout was 51.34% - down 15% from the last parliamentary election in 2016.

ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen welcomed the result tweeting:

https://twitter.com/hansvanbaalen/status/1283744937381695490?s=20

ALDE Party Vice President Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP, also the European Parliament’s rapporteur for North Macedonia, tweeted:

https://twitter.com/ilhankyuchyuk/status/1283638498273230848?s=20

The leader of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, Dacian Cioloș, added: “North Macedonia has conducted important reforms in recent years and made historic decisions that confirmed its North Atlantic and European perspectives. It is essential that this progress is preserved and continued by a new government. The citizens of North Macedonia deserve a pro-European political majority, in values and actions and a responsible and competent government to deal with the significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis and pursue the enlargement process.”

President of LIBSEEN, Roman Jakič, tweeted:

https://twitter.com/RomanJakic/status/1283856376121434119?s=20

https://twitter.com/liberalinternat/status/1283814346209071104?s=20