Following the first round of the presidential and local elections, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Macedonia showed the whole world it had strength and capacity, as well as political will, to conduct peaceful, fair and democratic elections. He was pleased to conclude that Macedonia went through one of its best-organized elections, in which there was no violence and people freely expressed their will. It was the Macedonian citizens and the future that won the elections, he said.
"Macedonia demonstrated democratic maturity, which strengthened its path toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and showed it shared the same values as the EU and NATO member countries," the prime minister said.
He thanked the leaders of all political parties, the media, the State Election Commission, the electoral boards, the police, the international observers and all those having contributed to holding good elections.
The prime minister expects the second election round in two weeks to pass off in the same peaceful and democratic atmosphere. He said all government institutions would stay dedicated to repeating the democratic success of the first round, because of being at this moment Macedonia's top priority.
VMRO-DPMNE and the For Better Macedonia Coalition, in Gruevski's words, won the local election in 23 municipalities, including Bitola, Prilep, the Skopje municipalities of Aerodrom and Gjorce Petrov, etc, in the first round. He underlined that ruling VMRO-DPMNE was well ahead of its rivals in the city of Skopje, too, and also regards the municipal council members.
VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gjorge Ivanov won the most votes and entered the second election round. Gruevski said the citizens in these elections gave support to the political option that brought many changes and reforms over the past two years.
In the early morning hours of 23 March, Gruevski congratulated once again the candidates of all the other political parties and independent candidates, with whom, he said, he fought together for better Macedonia.
"Only together, each with their own specifics, yet united around the strategic goals and national state interests, we can go ahead. VMRO-DPMNE is going to continue to lead the country in the positive direction and toward prosperity," the prime minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader said.