Politics of the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Republic of Macedonia
Constitution Human rights LGBT rights Language and politics
Executive President Gjorge Ivanov Prime Minister Zoran Zaev
Legislature Assembly Speaker: Talat Xhaferi
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2009 2014 Parliamentary: 2014 2016 Local: 2013 2017 Political parties
Administrative divisions Municipalities Regions
Foreign relations EU accession NATO accession Naming issue Negotiator: Z. Jolevski
Other countries Atlas

Politics in the Republic of Macedonia occur within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Macedonia as "hybrid regime" in 2016.^[1]

Political system

The political system of the Republic of Macedonia consists of three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The Constitution^[2] is the highest law of the country. The political institutions are constituted by the will of its citizens by secret ballot at direct and general elections. Its political system of parliamentary democracy was established with the Constitution of 1991, which stipulates the basic principles of democracy and guarantees democratic civil freedom. The Elections for Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia is held in October. The Assembly is composed of 123 Representatives, who are elected for a period of four years. Out of this number, 120 are elected proportionally in 6 constituencies of 20 each, and 3 according to the majority principle, specifically for the diaspora (depending on turnout) (the territory of the Republic of Macedonia representing one constituency). There are approximately 1.5 million voters registered in the General Electoral Roll for the election of Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia in 2.973 polling stations[?]. The voting for the representatives is conducted according to the list system.^[3]

Executive branch

Although in Macedonian, these roles have very similar titles (Претседател на Република Македонија "President of the Republic of Macedonia" and Претседател на Владата на Република Македонија "President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia") it is much less confusing to refer to them in English as President and Prime Minister respectively. These are also the terms used in the English translation of the constitution.

The President

Coat of arms of the President of Macedonia

• cannot hold any other public office or position in a political party
• is elected for a 5-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms
• is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President of the Security Council
• nominates a candidate from the majority party or parties in the Assembly who then proposes the Government who are elected by the Assembly
• makes diplomatic appointments and some judicial and Security Council appointments
• grants decorations, honours and pardons^[4]

Current Cabinet

The current cabinet is a coalition of SDSM, the Democratic Union for Integration, the New Social Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party (Republic of Macedonia), Alliance for Albanians, Party for the Full Emancipation of the Roma of Macedonia, and the Party for the Movement of Turks in Macedonia. The members of the Cabinet of the Republic of Macedonia are chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the national Parliament, however certain cabinet level positions are chosen by both President and Prime Minister, and approved by the Parliament.

Member	Portfolio	Logo
Zoran Zaev	Prime Minister
Dragan Tevdovski	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Finance
Musa Xhaferi	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Framework Agreement Implementation
Koco Angjusev	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Affairs
Bujar Osmani	Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration
Nikola Dimitrov	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Radmila Sekerinska	Minister of Defense
Oliver Spasovski	Minister of Internal Affairs
Renata Deskoska	Minister of Justice
Goran Sugareski	Minister of Transport and Communication
Kreshnik Bekteshi	Minister of Economy
Ljupčo Nikoloski	Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Watersupply
Venko Filipce	Minister of Health
Arbr Ademi	Minister of Education and Science
Damjan Mancevski	Minister of Information Society and Administration
Suhail Fazliu	Minister of Local Self-Government
Asaf Ademi	Minister of Culture
Mila Carovska	Minister of Labor and Social Policy
Sadula Duraki	Minister of Environment and Physical Planning
Adnan Qahil	Minister without Portfolio for Attracting foreign investment
Nedžet Mustafa	Minister without Portfolio
Vele Samak	Minister without Portfolio
Anita Angelovska-Bezhoska	Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia
Ljupco Shvrgovski	Attorney General
Vasko Gjurcinovski	Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia
Zoran Jolevski	Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator of the Macedonia name dispute

Legislative branch

The Assembly (Sobranie) has 120 members, elected for a four-year term, by proportional representation.

2016 election result

Judicial branch

Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges.

Administrative divisions

With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (општини, opštini; singular: општина, opština. The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as "the City of Skopje". Municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish cooperative arrangements.

Ethnic diversity

The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically-based political parties representing the country's Macedonian majority and Albanian minority. The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.

Foreign relations

The Republic is member of the ACCT, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

See also

• Macedonian electoral units

References