Abstract
This chapter examines the extent of centralisation of leadership within the political parties in Macedonia. The country context provides an interesting case study as it allows for the analysis of the centralisation of leadership in a power-sharing system divided along ethnic lines. The chapter analyzes the development of the three main political parties in Macedonia, namely: the main centre-left, SDSM, the main centre-right, VMRO-DPMNE, and the dominant Albanian party, DUI. These parties represent cases of development through diffusion, as well as penetration. The analysis involves a study of the party statutes, as well as a temporal analysis of the inception and development of each party. The analysis shows that even if and when there are conditions to reinforce party presidentialisation at the systemic level it is possible to have variation of party presidentialisation at the level of individual political parties. The genetic make-up of the parties was a crucial indicator as the party developed by diffusion could not centralise power as easily as those that developed through penetration where the charisma and role of the party leader proved crucial in the centralisation of power.
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Notes
- 1.
There is always an Albanian candidate for President from at least one of the ethnic Albanian parties, however, due to the high threshold and the post-conflict context, it is not expected that they win. In the 2011 Presidential Elections, DUI sought the candidature of a consensual candidate for President with the ethnic Macedonian parties, but this did not happen, thus DUI officially boycotted the Presidential elections.
- 2.
Republic of Macedonia experienced four major changes to its electoral system since 1990. The 1990 and 1994 parliamentary elections were held under a majority system (120 MPs/120 constituencies). A mixed-majority/PR system was adopted for the 1998 elections (85 MPs under the majority system, and 35 MPs under PR). A closed-list PR system was introduced in 2002 (6 electoral districts with a district magnitude of 20 MPs). Since 2011 three extra seats were added to the parliament representing Macedonian citizens in Diaspora (majority system/ single member constituencies).
- 3.
Social Democratic Alliance (SDSM) and the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP).
- 4.
At the Party Congress held in Ohrid.
- 5.
As well as the 2009 and 2014 presidential and 2011 and 2013 local elections.
- 6.
The conflicts in former Yugoslavia disintegrated the markets, and there were no alternatives nor possibilities to trade. The borders on the north and south were shut. Serbia, the northern neighbour, was under UN Embargo and Greece, the southern neighbour, closed the border with Macedonia due to the “name dispute”. Albania, on the West, was a failing state, and only Bulgaria, on East, enjoyed relative stability, with all perils they had in 1990s.
- 7.
In the elections of 2006, DUI won the majority of the ethnic Albanian vote, however, its rival party, the DPA was selected as a coalition partner as stated in Sect. 3.1.
- 8.
Peviously, in the period till 2003 then leader Lj. Georgievski was overridden in a few occasions by the members of the executive party organs.
- 9.
In the past 25 years VMRO-DPMNE has seen a significant number of such new parties starting with the VMRO-DP (VMRO-Democratic party) and VMRO-Ilinden free democrats (1990), via VMRO-MNDS (VMRO-Macedonian National democratic alliance), VMRO-takovinska (VMRO-Fatherland), VMRO-Obedineta (VMRO-United) and VMRO-GDRDP (VMRO-Goce Delcev-Radical Democratic party (1994), VMRO-DOM (VMRO- Movement for Renewal of Macedonia)(1998), VMRO–VMRO (VMRO-Real Macedonian Reform Option (2002), VMRO-Makedonska (VMRO-Macedonian) and VMRO-narodna (VMRO People’s Party (2004) till a number of parties without a VMRO prefix but created by the former VMRO high officials (DRUM—the Democratic Republican Union of Macedonia) created by the former VMRO-DPMNE vice-president Dosta Dimovska, (Agricultural Party of Macedonia—by the former agriculture minister, Marjan Gjorchev), United for Macedonia—by the former interior minister Ljube Boskovski), (Democratic Right Party—by the former youth leader—Filip Petrovski), etc….
- 10.
In the last two years, following the emergence of a mass wiretapping scandal (in 2015), the country entered into a serious political crisis, having the ruling party and its leader in the central role, which resulted in international involvement and a mediation process in effort of finding a peaceful way out.
- 11.
Run in coalition with VMRO-DPMNE in 1994, boycotted elections—later merged with Liberal Party to form Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
- 12.
NSDP formed government with VMRO-DPMNE, but left in 2008. Since 2008, NSDP a stale electoral coalition partner of SDSM.
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Taleski, D., Dimovski, V., Pollozhani, L. (2019). The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Macedonia: The Role of Ethnics. In: Passarelli, G. (eds) The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in the Western Balkans. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97352-4_5
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