Skopje, 24 April 2024 (MIA) - Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, backed by VMRO-DPMNE, and Stevo Pendarovski, supported by SDSM-led coalition, advance to the second round of the presidential elections, set to take place on May 8, alongside the country's eleventh parliamentary elections.

Preliminary results from the State Election Commission's website reveal that, with 89.98 percent of votes counted from 3,156 polling stations, VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova won 324,177 votes (39.99%), while SDSM’s Stevo Pendarovski won 161,393 votes (19.90%).

DUI’s Bujar Osmani is third with 110,903 votes, followed by Arben Taravari from the Worth It coalition with 79,110 votes, ZNAM’s Maksim Dimitrievski has 70,996 votes, Levica’s Biljana Vankovska has 35,949 votes and GROM’s Stevcho Jakimovski has 7,499 votes.

The President of the State Election Commission (SEC), Aleksandar Dashtevski, underlined that voter turnout, based on data from 3,156 polling stations, stands at 49.75 percent. A total of 810,971 voters cast their votes. Valid ballots amounted to 789,031, with 21,946 invalid ballots.

Dashtevski stated that election day was peaceful, with citizens voting in a dignified manner. All participants conducted themselves with dignity, and there were no problems.

"Ninety-nine percent of the proceedings proceeded as expected," SEC President said. Regarding the incident in Kumanovo, as he mentioned, it was a result of misunderstanding.

Photo: MIA