Macedonia is facing a political crisis following an unexpectedly low turnout by voters in a historic referendum to rename the Balkan state. Prime minister Zoran Zaev now has two weeks to secure 50% turnout required to make vote valid or he would have to call early parliamentary elections.
Macedonian political analyst Albert Musliu told CdM there’s no need to panic. He said: “I strongly believe Macedonian parliament is going to adopt these results as the extraordinary parliamentary elections won’t be good even for the nationalist opposition.”
Although only 36,87% of voters cast their ballots for the referendum, citizens of Macedonia do not find that unusual.
“Only 36% or 650,000 of eligible voters took part in the elections. The prospect of securing a majority turnout had been hampered by an electoral list dramatically trimmed by young people emigrating in search of work. Of the 1.8 million on the list, an estimated 600,000 are believed to have moved abroad. Zaev said he would seek to secure the required two-thirds majority of the 120-seat parliament by next week for the constitutional changes. If he fails, he said the only alternative would be to call early elections,“ said Musliu.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, on the other side, said he expected “all political leaders to respect this decision and take it forward with utmost responsibility and unity across party lines.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes the results of Macedonia’s name consultative referendum and urges the country’s leadership to “responsibly” use this historic opportunity.
