1. Benedict (Viktor) Gombocz

2. Government of the Republic of Macedonia
 Government: Parliamentary
republic
 President: Gjorge Ivanov
 Prime Minister: Nikola Gruevski
 Speaker of the Parliament: Trajko
Veljanovski
 Legislature: Assembly

3. Introduction
 The Republic of Macedonia’s politics function within the system of a
parliamentary representative democratic republic, with the PM as head of
government and a multi-party structure.
 The government exercises executive power; legislature power is vested in
both the government and parliament.
 The Judiciary operates independently of the executive and the legislature.

4. The Republic of Macedonia’s political system
 The political structure of the Republic of Macedonia is composed of three branches: Legislative,
Executive, and Judicial.
 The most supreme law of the country is the Constitution.
 The political institutions are comprised by the will of its citizens through secret ballot at direct
and general elections.
 The Constitution of 1991, which specifies the basic standards of democracy and assures
democratic civil liberty, established the political structure of parliamentary democracy.
 The elections for Delegates in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia are held in October.
 120 Delegates, who are elected to four-year terms, make up the Assembly; out of this number, 85
are elected in line with the majority principle in 85 constituencies and 35 in line with the
proportional principle (the Republic of Macedonia’s land representing one constituency).
 There are roughly 1.5 million registered voters in the General Electoral Roll for the election of
Delegates in the Republic of Macedonia’s Assembly, assigned in 85 constituencies, in 2.973
polling stations.
 The voting for the Delegates in relation to the majority principle can be carried out in two
electoral rounds, while the voting in relation to the proportional principle ends in the first
round.

5. Majority principle
 Out of 85 delegates, 85 constituencies, and 40 registered political parties, 28 have
appointed nominees.
 635 nominees have been recommended from 28 different political parties, eight
coalitions, and eight private affiliates.
 In the first round, the nominee who receives the majority of votes (50% of the total
number of votes cast) is elected, on condition that the number of votes received is
not less than 1/3 of the total number of registered voters in the community.
 In the second round, if no nominee has received the mandatory number of votes in
the first round, the voting will be repeated in 14 days (1 November 1998).
 The first two nominees in a constituency who have received the biggest number of
votes in the first round will take part in the second round.
 The nominee who has received the biggest number of votes from the votes cast in
the second round is to be elected Representative.

6. Proportional Principle
 35 delegates, 1 constituency, and 17 lists of nominees have been presented from
22 different political parties, out of which independently from 12 different
political parties, four different coalitions, one group of voters, and the whole
number of appointed nominees is 595.
 The D’Hondt formula will be relevant for deciding the results of the vote.
 Only nominees’ list, which have acquired no less than 5% of the votes cast, may
be represented in the Assembly.

7. Presidents of the Republic of Macedonia
 Kiro Gligorov (1991-1999)
 Boris Trajkovski (1999-2004)
 Branko Crvenkovski (2004-2009)
 Gjorge Ivanov (2009-present)

8. Executive Branch
Main office holders Clarification
 Office: President  While their Macedonian names suggest
that these roles have very similar titles
 Name: Gjorge Ivanov
(Претседател на Република Македонија,
 Party: VMRO-DPMNE i.e., “President of the Republic of
Macedonia” and Претседател на Владата
 Office: Prime Minister
на Република Македонија, i.e., “President
 Name: Nikola Gruevski of the Government of the Republic of
 Party: VMRO-DPMNE Macedonia”), it is a lot less puzzling to refer
to them in English as President and PM,
correspondingly; there are additionally the
names used in the Macedonian
constitution’s English version.

9. The President
 Is not permitted to hold any other public office or post in a political party.
 Is elected to a 5-year term; may serve a maximum of two terms.
 Is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President of the Security Council.
 Appoints a nominee from the governing party or parties in the Assembly who
subsequently advises the government elected by the Assembly.
 Makes diplomatic nominations and some judicial and Security Council
nominations.
 Issues awards, honours, and pardons.

10. The Government
 The President’s power is fairly restricted with all other executive authority vested in
what the Constitution defines as the government, i.e., the PM and Ministers, who:
 May not be Representatives in the Assembly.
 May not hold any other public office or follow an occupation when in office.
 Are elected through a majority vote in the Assembly.
 Are granted protection.
 May not be called for service in the Armed Forces.
 Put forward laws, budget and guidelines to be assumed by the Assembly.
 Manage diplomatic policy.
 Make other state nominations.

11. Current Cabinet
 The current cabinet is a coalition of VMRO-DPMNE, the Democratic Union for
Integration, the Socialist Party of Macedonia, and the Party for the Movement of
Turks in Macedonia.
 The Cabinet of the Republic of Macedonia’s affiliates are selected by the PM and
confirmed by the national Parliament, even though specific cabinet level posts are
selected by both the President and PM, and confirmed by the Parliament.

12. Legislative Branch
 The Assembly (Sobranie) is made up of
123 affiliates, elected to a four-year term,
through proportional representation.

13. The major parties
 Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic
Party for Macedonian National Unity (Внатрешна македонска
револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за
македонско национално единство, ВМРО-ДПМНЕ, Vnatrešna
makedonska revolucionerna organizacija – Demokratska partija za
makedonsko nacionalno edinstvo, VMRO–DPMNE)
 Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Социјалдемократски
сојуз на Македонија, Socijaldemokratski sojuz na Makedonija,
SDSM)
 Democratic Union for Integration (Bashkimi Demokratik për
Integrim, BDI; Демократска унија за интеграција, ДУИ,
Demokratska unija za integracija, DUI)
 Democratic Party of Albanians (Partia Demokratike Shqiptare,
PDS; Демократска партија на Албанците, Demokratska Partija
na Albancite, DPA)
 Socialist Party of Macedonia (Социјалистичка партија на
Македонија, Socijalistička Partija na Makedonija, SPM)
 Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-People’s Party
(Внатрешна Македонска Револуционерна Организација-
Народна Партија, Vnatrešna Makedonska Revolucionerna
Organizacija–Narodna Partija, VMRO–NP)
 Liberal Democratic Party (Либерално-Демократска Партија,
Liberalno-Demokratska Partija, LDP)
 Liberal Party of Macedonia (Либерална партија на Македонија,
Liberalna partija na Makedonija, LPM)
 New Social Democratic Party (Нова социјалдемократска
Партија, Nova socijaldemokratska partija, NSDP)

14. The minor parties
 Democratic Alternative (Demokratska Alternativa/Демократска Алтернатива)
 MAAK-Conservative Party (MAAK-Konzervativna Partija/МААК-Конзервативна Партија)
 Democratic League of Bosniaks (Demokratska Liga na Boshnjacite/Демократска Лига на
Бошњаците)
 Democratic Party of Serbs (Demokratska Partija na Srbite/Демократска Партија на Србите)
 Democratic Party of Turks (Demokratska Partija na Turcite/Демократска Партија на Турците)
 Democratic Union (Demokratski sojuz/Демократски Сојуз)
 National Democratic Party (Nacionala Demokratska Partija/Национална Демократска
Партија)
 Union of Tito’s Left Forces (Sojuz na Titovi Levi Sili/Сојуз на Титови Леви Сили)
 United Party of Romas in Macedonia (Obedinita Partija na Romite na Makedonija/Обединета
Партија на Ромите во Македонија)
 Workers Party (Rabotnicka Partija/Работничка Партија)
 Movement for Turkish National Union (Türk Milli Birlik Hareketi/Dvizenje za Tursko Nacionalno
Edinstvo/Движенње за Турско Национално Единство)

15. Judicial Branch
 The courts exercise judiciary power; the court system is led by the Judicial
Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the Republican Judicial Council.
 The judges are named by the assembly.

16. Administrative Divisions
 With the passing of a new law and
elections held in 2005, local government
functions are split between 78
municipalities (plural: општини,
opštini; singular: општина, opština).
 The Republic of Macedonia’s capital,
Skopje, is ruled as a group of ten
municipalities jointly known as “the city
of Skopje”.
 Municipalities in the Republic of
Macedonia are divisions of local
autonomy; neighouring municipalities
may set up joint arrangements.

17. Ethnic diversity
 The Republic of Macedonia’s main political
divide is between the mainly ethnically-
based political parties that represent its
Macedonian majority and Albanian
minority.
 The matter of the power balance between
the two ethnic groups led to a short war in
2001, which was followed by a power-
sharing agreement.
 The Macedonian parliament enforced
legislation that redrew local borders and
granted larger local self-governing to ethnic
Albanians in areas where they are the
majority.

18. Foreign relations
 The Republic of Macedonia is a founding member of: ACCT, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD,
ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer).

19. Gjorge Ivanov
 Born 2 May 1960 in Valandovo.
 Current President of the Republic of Macedonia, since 12 May 2009.
 Completed primary and secondary school in Valandovo; lived there
until he was 27, moving to Skopje, which has since been his permanent
residence.
 Started his professional career in 1988, when he became an editor at
Macedonian Radio and Television, the national broadcasting station;
went on to teach political theory and political philosophy at the Law
Faculty in Skopje.
 Became a visiting professor for the Southeast European programme at
the University of Athens in Greece, in 1999.
 Was named associate professor by Sts. Cyril and Methodius University
in 1992 and full professor in 2008 following a number of subsequent
academic appointments at universities in Bologna and Sarajevo; also
became president of the Council for Accreditation in Higher Education
in Macedonia, in 2008.
 Has been active politically since the Yugoslav period, when he insisted
on political pluralism and a market economy; he founded and is the
honorary president of the Macedonian Political Science Association and
one of the founding affiliates of the Institute for Democracy Societas
Civilis, a leading analytical centre in the Republic of Macedonia.
 Until 1990, he was an advocate in the League of Socialist Youth of
Yugoslavia and an affiliate of the last presidency of the organization,
where he developed a change of the political structure and advancing
political plurality and a free market economy.
 Is regarded as a leading specialist on civil society, and specializes in
political management.

20. Nikola Gruevski
 Born 31 August 1970 in Skopje.
 Current PM of the Republic of Macedonia since 27 August 2006; has led the governing
VMRO-DPMNE party since May 2003.
 Was Minister of Finance in Ljubčo Georgievski’s VMRO-DPMNE government until
September 2002.
 Was raised in a family that was neither privileged nor poor.
 His father worked in furniture and design; his mother was a nurse.
 His mother raised him after his parents separated; when he was only four, his mother
went to work in Libya (like thousands of other citizens of Yugoslavia), and took him
with; finished primary and secondary school in Skopje after they returned to
Yugoslavia.
 Entered the nascent finance section after he graduated from the Faculty of Economics
at St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola in 1994 (where he studied amateur
dramatics and boxing); was the first individual to trade on Skopje’s stock exchange.
 Also obtained some qualification for the international capital market from a London
Securities Institute, in 1996.
 Earned a master’s degree from the Faculty of Economics at Ss. Cyril and Methodius
University of Skopje on 12 December 2006.
 Established the Brokerage Association of the Republic of Macedonia in 1998, serving as
its president; made the first contract at the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
 Ended his marriage with his first wife and married again in May 2007 to Borkica
Gruevska; they have two daughters: Anastasija and Sofija.
 Has family origins in the Macedonia region of Greece.
 His paternal grandparents came from Krousorati, renamed, in 1926, by Greek
authorities to Achlada (Greek: Αχλάδα), a village in the Florgina regional unit, Greece,
where his family used the surname Grouios (Γρούϊος).
 His grandfather, Nikolaos Grouios, (Νικόλαος Γρούιος) fought on the Greek side in the
Greco-Italian War during the Second World War, where he died in 1940 and his name
is mentioned on the war monument in Achlada among the names of the locals who
were killed during WWII.
 During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), his grandmother and father, together with
thousands of other Slavs in Greek Macedonia, escaped north to what was Yugoslav
Macedonia, where they changed their name, with the local authorities, to Gruevski.

21. Trajko Veljanovski
 Was born 2 November 1962.
 Graduated from Ss. Cyril and Methodius
University; worked as a lawyer until 1999.
 Started his political career when he joined
VMRO-DPMNE in 1993.
 Was elected Under-Secretary in the
Ministry of Justice in the Macedonian
Parliament in 1999; subsequently became
Deputy Minister in the same ministry.
 Was elected Member of the Assembly in the
2006 parliamentary election; was re-elected
in the 2008 parliamentary election and
became the Speaker of the Macedonian
parliament.

22. Skopje

23. The End (крајот)