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SKOPJE – North Macedonia will head to a presidential runoff after no candidate secured enough votes to win outright in Wednesday’s first round of balloting held as the country seeks to enter into the European Union.
The second round of voting on May 8 will coincide with parliamentary elections. Near-full results from Wednesday’s vote showed a strong shift in favor of the candidate backed by the center-right main opposition coalition, VMRO-DPMNE.
With about 92% of the votes counted, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova was well ahead with just under 40%. Incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, who is seeking a second five-year term with support from the country’s governing social democrats, was second with nearly 20%, according to the State Electoral Commission.
Pendarovski was followed by a government-allied candidate from the ethnic Albanian minority, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, with 13.6%. Turnout was 49.75%.
To win outright, a candidate needed to win support from more than 50% of …
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