Citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are set to elect a new president this Sunday, April 5th 2009 in a second run-off election between Gjorgje Ivanov of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (WMRO-DPMNE) and Ljubomir Frckoski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM).

Current Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski (SDSM) is not seeking re-election. 

This run-off follows the first round of elections held on March 22nd, 2009 which saw seven candidates run for the mostly cerimonial position of the Macedonian presidency including ethnic Albanian, Imer Selmani and the ex Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski who was acquitted of his charges by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in 2008.

While Gjorgie Ivanov (WMRO-DPMNE) won the first election with roughly 35% of the vote opposition leader Ljubomir Frckoski (SDSM) held roughly 20% of the vote, which triggered the run-off election.

The March 22nd election was praised by the European Union calling it a ”calm and positive atmosphere”. This following the parliamentary elections in June 2008 in which one person was killed in the ethnic Albanian region of the country.

The latest poll done on March 28th, 2009 showed Ivanov leading over Frckoski with 1.8 of Macedonia’s two million people eligible to vote. However, under Macedonian law if the voter turn-out of  the run-off election is under 40% an entirely new election must be called.

The Issue of Macedonia’s Name

Macedonia has actively pursued membership into both NATO and the European Union only to have been vetoed and blocked frequently by Greece, who has opposed Macedonia’s admittance into both organizations due to concerns held over its name.

When Macedonia split from Yugoslavia in 1991 its international recognition was stalled by the Greek concern over the title “Macedonia”  which it felt implied territorial ambitions towards the northern region of Greece which shares the same name.

In 2008 NATO agreed to invite Albania and Croatia to join the alliance but the Macedonian invitation was vetoed by Greece which insists it will continue to block Macedonia’s entry into both NATO and the EU until a compromise is made over its official name. Macedonia took the issue of its name to the International Court in 2008 but this has produced no result so far.

While the countries official title is “The Republic of Macedonia” it sits in the UN under the title of “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and many experts warn that continued rejection from NATO may trigger internal conflict between the majority of the population which is ethnic-Macedonian and the minority of the population which is ethnic-Albanian.

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