North Macedonia returned to the ballot box Sunday for a presidential run-off that could turn into a major headache for the ruling Social Democrats, whose candidate is battling a nationalist-backed rival.
Turnout figures will be as important as who wins, with 40 percent of the electorate needed to vote to validate the poll.
The two candidates, the ruling party’s Stevo Pendarovski and right-wing favourite Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, finished in a near dead heat in the first round last month.
Their tie reflected a split between pro-West and nationalist camps who have clashed over the government’s recent move to change the country’s name to North Macedonia, which ended a long-running row with Greece.
Record-low turnout in the first round, at barely over 41 percent, also revealed a failure to galvanise most of the 1.8 million voters.
If turnout sinks below 40 percent Sunday, the entire poll will be annulled, threatening a new period of political uncertainty in one of Europe’s poorest states.
“Today the most important thing is to have successful elections,” Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said after casting his ballot in his hometown Strumica.
If the poll fails, Zaev has previously said he would call a snap parliamentary election.
While the presidency is a largely ceremonial role, the office can exercise some veto powers.
The current president, opposition-backed Gjorge Ivanov, has protested the country’s name-change by refusing to sign bills in recent weeks.
Election fatigue
The small, land-locked country has weathered repeated bouts of political turmoil in recent years, with nearly 10 elections in the past decade doing little to boost public faith in politicians.
Low wages and high unemployment have deepened the disillusionment.
“I think that people are a little fed up with voting,” said Katerina Gjorgjioska, a 23-year-old hotel receptionist in Skopje, adding that many young people are fed up with the flat economy and have left to find work abroad.
Turnout is a “challenge” in light of “election fatigue and low voter enthusiasm”, said David Stephenson, a political consultant based in Skopje.
But he said the tight first round could spark more energy for the run-off.
“What’s important is to elect a president in a free, fair, and democratic process,” he added.
“Failure to do so risks another period of political instability, which would likely harm the country’s European perspective and damage economic growth.”
Zaev says he will also call an early general election in the event of a loss by 56-year-old Pendarovski, who has championed the name-change and efforts to forge closer links with the West.
The addition of “North” to the name ended a nearly 30-year identity row with Athens that had been blocking Skopje’s NATO and EU ambitions.
A victory by Siljanovska-Davkova, who is critical of the deal, would be a blow to a government that staked its reputation on passing the name accord.
Siljanovska-Davkova, 63, has also framed her campaign around tackling corruption, under the slogan “Justice for Macedonia, the fatherland calls”.
After casting her ballot Sunday, she told reporters she would “respect” the name officially, but not use it personally.
Albanian vote
Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian minority, which composes up to a quarter of the population, could prove decisive.
Their presidential candidate, Blerim Reka, dropped out after garnering 11 percent in the first round.
He has not publicly backed either of the two frontrunners by name, but he has urged Albanians to vote for the “pro-Western agenda”, which Pendarovski espouses.
The polls will close at 1700 GMT, with initial results expected several hours later.
