Social Democratic Union of Macedonia

North Macedonia's main opposition VMRO DPMNE party on Monday filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, sticking to its promise to do so unless Zaev resigned by the 2.30pm ultimatum it gave him.

The MP and VMRO DPMNE vice-president Aleksandar Nikolovski confirmed this at a press conference in Skopje.

Opposition leader Hirstijan Mickoski's right-wing VMRO DPMNE party, their Albanian coalition partners Alliance for Albanians and Alternative, alongside the small opposition Levica party, and the ethnic Albanian BESA party, who has just defected from the current government ranks, came together to form a new majority in North Macedonia's parliament.

After the fact, one could argue that his ill-thought-out bet that people would flock to support him is a good illustration of how he and particularly the people around him have lost touch with reality and to what extent his inner circle is packed with yes-men who are totally ignorant of the true sentiments in society.

The parliamentary majority behind the Social Democrat-led government is small but remains firm, all the government's partner parties insisted on Monday after meeting Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who has announced his resignation following the defeat of his party at Sunday's local elections.

Three possible options loom over North Macedonia's immediate political future after Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned on Sunday - the existing parliament majority led by the Social Democrats remaining in power with a new PM, a brand new opposition-led majority, or snap general elections.

In an address late on Sunday evening, Zoran Zaev said he is resigning from his position as North Macedonia's Prime Minister and as leader of the Social Democrats, after the party's defeat in the capital of Skopje and other important towns to the opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE party during the election runoffs this weekend.

On the other hand, the independent candidate for the mayor of Skopje, Danela Arsovska, declared victory, and the leading Macedonian opposition party VMRO-DPMNE calls for early parliamentary elections.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, resigned last night after the poor performance of his SDSM party in the second round of local elections, world agencies reported.

VMRO-DPMNE is the absolute winner of yesterday's local elections in the Republic of North Macedonia, according to the latest data announced tonight on the website of the State Election Commission, Macedonian media reported.

He resigned due to the debacle in the second round of local elections.
"I take responsibility for the results of these elections and resign from the Prime Minister and the President of the SDSM," SDSM leader Zoran Zaev said tonight.