Petition Boosts Macedonian President's Chances

A group of more than 50 prominent politicians, clerics, doctors, athletes and artists has urged the centre-right VMRO DPMNE to again endorse the candidacy of Gjorge Ivanov in the April elections.

The petition increases the likelihood that the incumbent President will run for a second five-year term.

The party previously said it would choose its presidential runner at a convention on March 1, adding that anyone who sympathizes with its cause could apply.

Ivanov has not yet answered the party's call for applicants to declare themselves, nor has he said whether he will enter the race. He has until Wednesday to submit his candidacy to the ruling party.

“We have received the petition and we can confirm that prominent party members have joined it,” VMRO DPMNE said on Monday, “but we have not yet received a personal application from Gjorge Ivanov [for the party's endorsement as presidential candidate].”

On Monday, the ruling party confirmed that many of its senior figures had joined the initiative to back Ivanov.

Among them is Vice Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski, who was previously mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, the Mayor of Skopje, Koce Trajanovski, and other officials.

In the absence of any official word from the incumbent President, Vladimir Misev, from the Institute for Democracy, a think tank, sees the petition as part of his re-election campaign.

“I am guessing that this is part of his campaign to announce his candidacy, to show that prominent intellectuals, sportsmen and other professionals are behind him,” Misev said.

Ivanov won his first presidential term in 2009 after being endorsed by VMRO DPMNE. A university professor, he was seen as a freshman in...