President of North Macedonia

The president of the Republic of North Macedonia (Template:Langx; Template:Langx)<ref group="note">In Macedonian, the feminine form of the position is Претседателка на Република Северна Македонија, while in Albanian it is Presidentја е Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut.</ref> is the head of state of North Macedonia.

The office was foramlly established a few months before the declaration of independence on 8 September 1991. The first president was Kiro Gligorov, the oldest Macedonian political official,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> until his resignation in 1999. Although largely a ceremonial position, with most of the political power being vested in the prime minister and the Assembly, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the first body for performing foreign affairs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Presidential rights and obligations are determined by the Constitution and laws. The president must be a citizen of North Macedonia, be over 40 years of age and have lived in North Macedonia for at least ten of the previous fifteen years before election.<ref>Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, Article 80.</ref>

Electoral system

The president of North Macedonia is elected using a modified two-round system; a candidate can only be elected in the first round of voting if they receive the equivalent of over 50% of the vote from all registered voters.<ref>Polls Open in Macedonia Presidential Elections Balkan Insight, 13 April 2014</ref> In the second round, voter turnout must be at least 40% for the result to be deemed valid.<ref>AMENDMENT XXXI Constitution of North Macedonia</ref>

Before 2009, the constitution required a 50% turnout in the second round. The XXXI amendment to the constitution, voted on 9 January 2009 by all 86 present deputies, lowered it to the current 40%,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as the government feared the tendency of ever lower election turnout would make presidential elections frequently invalidated. In the 2009 Macedonian presidential election that followed, the turnout in the second round ended up being 42.6%.<ref name="FruhstorferHein2016">Template:Cite book</ref>

History

During the period of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, there was a collective presidency which was abolished in 1991. Its first president was Metodija Andonov Čento, elected at the first plenary session of ASNOM, when the modern state was formed, while the last one was Vladimir Mitkov.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the transition from socialist system to parliamentary democracy in 1990, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia changed the collective leadership with a single-president post in 1991, few months before independence. Kiro Gligorov became the first president of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia on 27 January 1991.<ref name="gligorov">Kiro Gligorov was elected as a President on 27 January 1991, when the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was still an official name of the state. After the change of the state's name, he continued his function as a President of the Republic of Macedonia The Official Site of The President of the Republic of Macedonia Template:Webarchive</ref> On 16 April 1991 the parliament adopted a constitutional amendment removing the term "Socialist" from the official name of the country, and on 7 June of the same year, the new name Republic of Macedonia was officially established.<ref name="namechange">"On This Day" - Macedonian Information Agency - MIA Template:Webarchive, see: 1991 Template:In lang</ref> Hence Gligorov continued his function as President of the Republic of Macedonia.

After the process of dissolution of Yugoslavia began, the Republic of Macedonia proclaimed full independence following a referendum held on 8 September 1991. Kiro Gligorov was incapacitated after an assassination attempt in 1995. Stojan Andov served as acting president for 98 days during Gligorov's recovery. On completing his second term as head of the independent state, Gligorov was succeeded by Boris Trajkovski in 1999. Following Trajkovski's death in 2004, he was succeeded by Branko Crvenkovski. Gjorge Ivanov won the 2009 presidential election and took office on 12 May 2009. He was re-elected in 2014.

The position initially had some considerable powers, as Macedonia functioned within the framework of a de facto semi-presidential republic. The president had control over the military and was the primary actor when it came to setting the foreign policy agenda. As such, both Gligorov and Trajkovski were the primary representatives of the fledgling republic abroad. The 2001 Ohrid Agreement, brokered by President Trajkovski in an effort to reduce interethnic tensions in the country, led to the adoption of constitutional amendments on November 16, 2001, which, in addition to granting representational rights to the Albanian-speaking minority, also stripped the president of any executive authority he previously had.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> President Trajkovski respected this arrangement for the remainder of his term, with authority over foreign policy passing first to Prime Minister Ljupco Georgievski and then to Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.

After Trajkovski's tragic death in 2004, Crvenkovski was elected as the next president, and it was widely expected that he would remain in de facto control of the government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Owing to his popularity in the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, Crvenkovski maintained some level of control over foreign affairs during the premiership of Hari Kostov, but with the election of Vlado Buckovski, the new leader of the Social Democratic Union, as prime minister, Crvenkovski largely refrained from interfering with the government and limited his activities to ceremonial matters. While Crvenkovski was opposed to Nikola Gruevski after the latter's election as prime minister, there was little that he could have done, as by that time the presidency had very little authority.

In 2009, Crvenkovski was replaced as president by Gjorge Ivanov, an ally of Gruevski. After Greuvski resigned in 2016, an interim government led by Emil Dimitriev was inaugurated, but President Gjorge Ivanov largely took de facto lead over governance and halted judicial inquiries into Gruevski administration officials implicated in the wiretapping scandal. This caused massive protests, including calls for Ivanov's impeachment.

With the inauguration of Zoran Zaev executive authority returned to the government. In 2019, Ivanov was succeeded by Zaev ally Stevo Pendarovski as president. In 2020, Zaev briefly resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Oliver Spasovski. During Spasovski's interim premiership, President Pendarovski came to the fore as the country's leader, most notably in first declaring and then ending the country's State of Emergency in the fight against COVID-19. Pendarovski largely gave up his increased executive authority when Zaev returned as prime minister at the end of the year. In 2022, Zaev was replaced as prime minister by Dimitar Kovacevski. Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is the incumbent president and she took office on 12 May 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

List of presidents

Socialist Republic of Macedonia

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Parties

Status

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (Birth-Death)	Term of office		Political party
President of Initiatory Committee for the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) Template:Small
rowspan=5 style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1	File:Čento-vsv.jpg	Metodija Andonov-Čento (1902–1957)	1 October 1943	2 August 1944	KPM
	Chairman of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) 1944–1945
File:Čento-vsv.jpg	Metodija Andonov-Čento (1902–1957)	2 August 1944	1 January 1945	KPM
	Presidents of the Presidency of the People's Assembly 1945–1953
File:Čento-vsv.jpg	Metodija Andonov-Čento (1902–1957)	1 January 1945	15 March 1946	KPM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| —	File:No image.png	Dimitar Nestorov (1890–1968)	16 March 1946	30 December 1946	KPM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 2	File:Богоја Фотев.jpg	Blagoja Fotev (1900–1993)	1947	4 January 1951	KPM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| —	File:Vidoe Smilevski.jpg	Vidoe Smilevski (1915–1979)	4 January 1951	1953	KPM
Presidents of the People's Assembly 1953–1974
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 3	File:No image.png	Dimče Stojanov (1910–1991)	1953	19 December 1953	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 4	File:Lazar Koliševski, foto.jpg	Lazar Koliševski (1914–2000)	19 December 1953	26 June 1962	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 5	File:Ljupčo Arsov.jpg	Ljupčo Arsov (1910–1986)	26 June 1962	24 June 1963	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 6	File:Vidoe Smilevski.jpg	Vidoe Smilevski (1915–1979)	25 June 1963	12 May 1967	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 7	File:No image.png	Mito Hadživasilev (1921–1968)	12 May 1967	1 August 1968	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 8	File:Nikola Minčev (cropped).jpg	Nikola Minčev (1915–1997)	23 December 1968	6 May 1974	SKM
Presidents of the Presidency Template:Small
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 9	File:Vidoe Smilevski.jpg	Vidoe Smilevski (1915–1979)	6 May 1974	31 October 1979	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 10	File:Ljupčo Arsov.jpg	Ljupčo Arsov (1910–1986)	31 October 1979	29 April 1982	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 11	File:Ангел Чемерски.jpg	Angel Čemerski (1923–2005)	29 April 1982	29 April 1983	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 12	File:No image.png	Blagoja Taleski (1924–2001)	29 April 1983	29 April 1984	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 13	File:No image.png	Tome Bukleski (1921–2018)	29 April 1984	26 April 1985	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 14	File:No image.png	Vančo Apostolski (1925–2008)	26 April 1985	28 April 1986	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| —	File:Матеја Матевски.jpg	Mateja Matevski (1929–2018)	28 April 1986	30 April 1986	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 15	File:No image.png	Dragoljub Stavrev (1932–2003)	30 April 1986	May 1988	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 16	File:Ezdimir Bogdanski.png	Jezdimir Bogdanski (1930–2007)	May 1988	28 April 1990	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 17	File:No image.png	Vladimir Mitkov (1931–2024)	28 April 1990	27 January 1991	SKM
style="background:Template:Party color; color:black;"| 18	File:Киро Глигоров 03 (28-01-1993) 2.jpg	Kiro Gligorov (1917–2012)	27 January 1991	18 September 1991	Independent

Republic of Macedonia / North Macedonia

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Parties

Status

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (Birth-Death)	Term of office			Political party	Election
			Took office	Left office	Time in office

Timeline

<timeline>ImageSize=width:1050 height:auto barincrement:14 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:90 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

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id:Independent value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8)    legend:Independent
id:Communist   value:rgb(1,0,0)          legend: Communist_Party_of_Macedonia_→_League_of_Communists_of_Macedonia
id:VMRO-DPMNE  value:rgb(0.886,0,0.102)  legend:Internal_Macedonian_Revolutionary_Organisation_―_Democratic_Party_for_Macedonian_National_Unity
id:SDSM        value:rgb(0.03,0.23,0.45) legend: Social_Democratic_Union_of_Macedonia
id:LPM         value:rgb(1,1,0)          legend: Liberal_Party_of_Macedonia
id:DA          value:rgb(0.5,0,0.5)      legend: Democratic_Alternative
id:gray1       value:gray(0.85)
id:gray2       value:gray(0.95)

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bar:Andonov-Čento
bar:Nestorov
bar:Fotev
bar:Smilevski
bar:Stojanov
bar:Koliševski
bar:Arsov
bar:Hadživasilev
bar:Minčev
bar:Čemerski
bar:Taleski
bar:Bukleski
bar:Apostolski
bar:Matevski
bar:Stavrev
bar:Bogdanski
bar:Mitkov
bar:Gligorov
bar:Andov
bar:Klimovski
bar:Trajkovski
bar:Jordanovski
bar:Crvenkovski
bar:Ivanov
bar:Pendarovski
bar:Siljanovska-Davkova

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Andonov-Čento
 from: 01/10/1943 till: 15/03/1946 color:Communist   text:"Metodija Andonov-Čento"
bar:Nestorov
 from: 16/03/1946 till: 30/12/1946 color:Communist   text:"Dimitar Nestorov"
bar:Fotev
 from: 01/01/1947 till: 04/01/1951 color:Communist   text:"Blagoja Fotev"
bar:Smilevski
 from: 04/01/1951 till: 01/01/1953 color:Communist
 from: 25/06/1963 till: 12/05/1967 color:Communist
 from: 06/05/1974 till: 31/10/1979 color:Communist   text:"Vidoe Smilevski"
bar:Stojanov
 from: 01/01/1953 till: 19/12/1953 color:Communist   text:"Dimče Stojanov"
bar:Koliševski
 from: 19/12/1953 till: 26/06/1962 color:Communist   text:"Lazar Koliševski"
bar:Arsov
 from: 26/06/1962 till: 24/06/1963 color:Communist
 from: 31/10/1979 till: 29/04/1982 color:Communist   text:"Ljupčo Arsov"
bar:Hadživasilev
 from: 12/05/1967 till: 01/08/1968 color:Communist   text:"Mito Hadživasilev"
bar:Minčev
 from: 23/12/1968 till: 06/05/1974 color:Communist   text:"Nikola Minčev"
bar:Čemerski
 from: 29/04/1982 till: 29/04/1983 color:Communist   text:"Angel Čemerski"
bar:Taleski
 from: 29/04/1983 till: 29/04/1984 color:Communist   text:"Blagoja Taleski"
bar:Bukleski
 from: 29/04/1984 till: 26/04/1985 color:Communist   text:"Tome Bukleski"
bar:Apostolski
 from: 26/04/1985 till: 28/04/1986 color:Communist   text:"Vančo Apostolski"
bar:Matevski
 from: 28/04/1986 till: 30/04/1986 color:Communist   text:"Mateja Matevski"
bar:Stavrev
 from: 30/04/1986 till: 01/05/1988 color:Communist   text:"Dragoljub Stavrev"
bar:Bogdanski
 from: 01/05/1988 till: 28/04/1990 color:Communist   text:"Jezdimir Bogdanski"
bar:Mitkov
 from: 28/04/1990 till: 27/01/1991 color:Communist   text:"Vladimir Mitkov"
bar:Gligorov
 from: 27/01/1991 till: 18/09/1991 color:Independent
 from: 18/09/1991 till: 04/10/1995 color:SDSM
 from: 10/01/1996 till: 19/11/1999 color:SDSM        text:"Kiro Gligorov"
bar:Andov
 from: 04/10/1995 till: 10/01/1996 color:LPM         text:"Stojan Andov"
bar:Klimovski
 from: 19/11/1999 till: 15/12/1999 color:DA          text:"Savo Klimovski"
bar:Trajkovski
 from: 15/12/1999 till: 26/02/2004 color:VMRO-DPMNE  text:"Boris Trajkovski"
bar:Jordanovski
 from: 26/02/2004 till: 12/05/2004 color:SDSM        text:"Ljupčo Jordanovski"
bar:Crvenkovski
 from: 12/05/2004 till: 12/05/2009 color:SDSM        text:"Branko Crvenkovski"
bar:Ivanov
 from: 12/05/2009 till: 12/05/2019 color:VMRO-DPMNE  text:"Gjorge Ivanov"
bar:Pendarovski
 from: 12/05/2019 till: 12/05/2024 color:SDSM        text:"Stevo Pendarovski"
bar:Siljanovska-Davkova
 from: 12/05/2024 till: $today     color:VMRO-DPMNE  text:"Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova"

</timeline>

Latest election

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} {{#section-h:2024 North Macedonian presidential election|Results}}

See also

• Vice President of North Macedonia
• Prime Minister of North Macedonia
• List of presidents of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia

External links

• Official site of the president of North Macedonia