Politics of the Republic of Macedonia

Macedonians (FYROM) are heading to the polls on October 15 for municipal elections that are seen as a test for the new left-wing government of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, five months after it came to power following an extended period of political instability.

A total of 3,480 polling stations opened at 7am on Sunday for Macedonia's local elections, in which some 1.8 million voters will have the right to choose mayors and local councils in 80 municipalities plus the capital, Skopje.

Voters will choose between a total of 260 mayoral candidates for the 81 municipalities until 7pm Sunday, when polling stations close.

Campaigning is halting on Friday in Macedonia ahead of Sunday's local elections, when almost 1.8 million registered voters will choose mayors and local councils in 80 municipalities plus the capital, Skopje.

Over the 20 days of the campaign, parties, coalitions and independent candidates have focused primarily on promises to improve local infrastructure.

On Sunday, October 15, local elections will be held in the Republic of Macedonia. There are 1,814,644 people entitled to vote. Of these, 1,735,682 voters live in the country, and the remaining 77,071 voters live abroad. They will vote in a total of 3480 polling stations, reported BGNES.

Skopje's Criminal Court on Thursday jailed 65-year-old Pance Angelov for four years for taking part in the mob assault on parliament in April that injured several MPs.

He was seen in video footage from parliament violently pulling the hair of then MP, now Defence Minister, Radmila Sekerinska.

Macedonia's main ruling party, the Social Democrats, and the ethnic Albanian BESA party have exchanged a series of mutual accusations and warnings.

The dispute erupted after the Social Democrats, the SDSM, decided to openly support BESA's bitter Albanian rivals in the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, in the October 15 local elections.

''In December we will negotiate a meeting with the World Bank to build Corridor 8. It will be attended by Macedonian and Albanian Prime Ministers Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama.'' This was announced by the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the correspondent of BGNES from Varna has reported.

Expect more details.

Establishing accountability for the illegal mass surveillance allegedly conducted under Macedonia's previous government will be a "critical step" towards the country convincing the European Union and NATO that it is ready to join, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Yee told Alsat M TV on Monday.

As the two leading candidates for the post of Mayor of Skopje try to woo ethnic Albanian voters ahead of the vote on October 15, both are avoiding the kind of divisive ethnic language that marred last year's general elections.

The campaign for the October 15 local elections in Macedonia will feature a mixed bag of local topics and big national issues, observers say - adding that the result will serve as an important barometer of the popularity of new course of the country following the change of regime at a national level.