Elections in the Republic of Macedonia

One week before the first round of Macedonian presidential elections, all four presidential candidate took part in an unexpected debate hosted by state television.

The hour-and-a-half debate on issues ranging from Macedonia disputed name to the economy failed to catch fire, however, and was dogged by long monologues that were deemed monotonous by many viewers and observers.

Experts say that if the opposition presidential candidate, Stevo Pendarovski, comes close to the ruling party's candidate, Gjorge Ivanov, on April 13, it will boost the opposition's chances in the subsequent general elections on April 27.

The interim report released on Thursday, covering the period March 10-26, says the presidential candidates started promoting their campaigns before the campaign's official start date - March 24.

As election races hot up in Macedonia, the ruling VMRO DPMNE party has accused the opposition of holding standpoints on the sensitive issue of the country's name issue that betray national interests.

The opposition has meanwhile accused the ruling parties of taking too hard a line on the name issue, and of excluding them from any discussion about it.

President Ivanov, who is seeking another five-year term, is the only one of the four presidential hopefuls who has not yet replied to a call to take part in a debate organized by the US-backed National Democratic Institute, NDI.

The DIK has ruled that Ivanov broke the electoral code when he published a report on his presidential work on March 14, ten days before the start of the presidential election campaign on March 24.

Apart from starting his campaign too early, the head of the DIK, Nikola Rilkoski, said Ivanov had misused his office by using state money to finance publication of his report.

Macedonia's main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, has launched a campaign for a new presidential election model in Macedonia.

The campaign slogan, “No to a One-sided President”, advocates scrapping direct elections for the post of President - and the main Albanian and Macedonian parties in parliament agreeing on a consensus candidate.

The candidate of the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, incumbent President Gjorge Ivanov, launches his campaign with a rally in the town of Ohrid, the party’s traditional election launch venue.

Ivanov, who is competing for a secound five-year term in office, is running under the election slogan “The State Above All”, positioning himself as a proven defender of the country's interests.

The Macedonian Police Minister, Gordana Jankuloska, on Wednesday insisted her ministry was "clean" and was playing no role in management of the electoral roll.

Jankuloska’s statement came a day after the main opposition Social Democratic Party, SDSM, as well as the junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, disputed the accuracy of the electoral roll.

After Macedonia's main ruling VMRO DPMNE party presented a report this weekend on its achievements in office, its junior partner, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, says it will issue its own separate report, focusing on its own achievements.