North Macedonia is set for a presidential runoff after no candidate secured enough votes to win outright in the first round of balloting on Wednesday. The second round of voting on May 8 will coincide with parliamentary elections. Near-full results from the initial vote showed a significant 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 led with just under 40% of the votes. Incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, seeking a second term with support from the governing social democrats, followed with nearly 20%. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, a government-allied candidate from the ethnic Albanian minority, secured 13.6% of the votes. Turnout was reported at 49.75%.
