Zoran Zaev’s ruling Social Democratic Party (SDSM) suffered a landslide defeat in the second round of municipal elections on Sunday, losing by a wide margin to Skopje as well as all other major municipalities in the country where ballot boxes were set up.
Recently, Zoran Zaev announced that he is taking responsibility for the defeat of his party and is resigning as the country’s prime minister and leader of his party (SDSM).
“Together with the citizens we have brought freedom and democracy and when there is democracy there is responsibility. I am resigning from the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia and from the President of the Social Democratic Party”, Zaev states in his tweet.
Заедно со граѓаните донесовме слобода и демократија, а кога има демократија има и одговорност. Поднесувам оставка од премиер на Северна Македонија и од претседател на #СДСМ. pic.twitter.com/vt7uPTcq1x
— Зоран Заев (@Zoran_Zaev) October 31, 2021
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Zoran Zaev has been the country’s prime minister since May 2017. In the country’s capital, the independent candidate for Skopje Municipality backed by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, Daniela Arsovska, received 55.85% of the vote, while incumbent Social Democrat Mayor Petre Sigelov received only 40.6%.
An election defeat could also upset the ruling coalition government. Zaev’s party has a marginal majority of 62 of the 120 seats with junior coalition members from the country’s Albanian minority.
