At stake in this election:

• 120 seats in the Assembly (Sobranie)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Kiro GLIGOROV
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Branko CRVENKOVSKI
• Assembly: Macedonia has a unicameral Assembly (Sobranie) with 120 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is elected by parliament.
• In the Assembly (Sobranie), 85 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 85 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** In the proportional tier, the d’Hondt formula is used for seat allocation. There is a five percent threshold. In the district-based tier, candidates must receive one-third of the total number of registered voters in the district, in addition to an absolute majority, to avoid a second round runoff.

Main parties in the Second Round of the electoral race:

• Party: Social Democratic Party of Macedonia (SDSM)
  • Leader: Branko CRVENKOVSKI
  • Seats won in last election: 58
• Coalition: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity - Democratic Alternative (VMRO-DPMNE-DA)**
  • Leader: Ljubcho GEORGIEVSKI, Vasil TUPURKOVSKI
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Coalition: Party for Democratic Prosperity - Democratic Party for Albanians (PDP-DPA)
  • Leader: Abdurrahman HALITI (PDP), Arber XHAFERRI (DPA)
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Coalition: Liberal Democratic Party - Democratic Party of Macedonia (LDP-DPM)
  • Leader: Petar GOSEV
  • Seats won in last election: 30
• Party: Democratic Alternative / Демократска алтернатива, ДА, Demokratska Alternativa (DA)
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

** The VMRO-DPMNE boycotted the second round of last election.

Main parties in the First Round of the electoral race:

• Party: Social Democratic Party of Macedonia (SDSM)
  • Leader: Branko CRVENKOVSKI
  • Seats won in last election: 58
• Coalition: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity - Democratic Alternative (VMRO-DPMNE-DA)**
  • Leader: Ljubcho GEORGIEVSKI, Vasil TUPURKOVSKI
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Coalition: Party for Democratic Prosperity - Democratic Party for Albanians (PDP-DPA)
  • Leader: Abdurrahman HALITI (PDP), Arber XHAFERRI (DPA)
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Coalition: Liberal Democratic Party - Democratic Party of Macedonia (LDP-DPM)
  • Leader: Petar GOSEV
  • Seats won in last election: 30
• Party: Democratic Alternative / Демократска алтернатива, ДА, Demokratska Alternativa (DA)
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

** The VMRO-DPMNE boycotted the second round of last election.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held on October 16 and 30, 1994.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,984,242 (1998)
• Registered Voters: 1,572,976 (1998)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 991,447 (1998)

·         Is Macedonia a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Macedonia ratified CEDAW: Yes, succesion (18 January 1994)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 9 (following the 1998 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 81 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Macedonia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Macedonia ratified CRPD: Yes (29 December 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 297,636 (est.)