Seven candidates will compete in the presidential elections in North Macedonia to be held on April 24.

The State Election Commission (SEC) announced that by Friday midnight, seven out of eleven candidates have managed to gather the required 10,000 signatures each to participate in the presidential race.

The opposition VMRO-DPMNE in the elections will run with current MP Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, who has collected 28,000 signatures.

The ruling Social Democratic Union (SDSM) will compete with the incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, who has submitted around 22,000 signatures to the SEC.

In the electoral race, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) will run with the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, who has gathered around 11,000 signatures, while the united Albanian opposition with Arben Taravari, the current mayor of Gostivar, who collected more than 10,000 signatures.

Part of the electoral race will also be Maksim Dimitrievski, the mayor of Kumanovo municipality, Stevčo Jakimovski, the mayor of Karpoš municipality in Skopje, and Biljana Vankovska, a candidate from the “Left” party.

The ranking of candidates for the voting list will be announced after the draw, scheduled for March 28.

The first round of presidential elections will be held on April 24, while the second, along with the parliamentary elections, will take place on May 8.

These elections are considered crucial for the country’s European future and serve as a test for the parliamentary elections to be held alongside the second round of presidential elections.

According to public opinion polls, VMRO-DPMNE holds a significant advantage over the SDSM, both in the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Based on the current Constitution, it is almost impossible to elect a president in the first round, as the candidate must receive more than half of the votes of those registered on the electoral list or half of the votes of the 1.8 million voters.

In the second round, the two candidates with the most votes proceed, and the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes, provided that they get more than 40 per cent of the electorate in the elections.

The electoral campaign, which will last for 20 days, will begin on April 4.