President of North Macedonia

The President of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Претседател на Република Северна Македонија; sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the head of state of North Macedonia.

The office was first established a few months before the declaration of independence on 8 September 1991. The first president was Kiro Gligorov, the oldest president in the world until his resignation in 1999. Although largely a ceremonial position, with most of the legislative power being vested in the prime minister and the Assembly, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the first body for performing foreign affairs.

Presidential rights and obligations are determined by the Constitution and laws. The president must be a citizen of North Macedonia, be over 40 years of age and have lived in North Macedonia for at least ten of the previous fifteen years before election.

Electoral system

The president of North Macedonia is elected using a modified two-round system; a candidate can only be elected in the first round of voting if they receive the equivalent of over 50% of the vote from all registered voters. In the second round, voter turnout must be at least 40% for the result to be deemed valid.

The Constitution mandates that the president must be over 40 years of age and have lived in the country for ten of the last fifteen years before election day.

Before 2009, the constitution required a 50% turnout in the second round. The XXXI amendment to the constitution, voted on 9 January 2009 by all 86 present deputies, lowered it to the current 40%, as the government feared the tendency of ever lower election turnout would make presidential elections frequently invalidated. In the 2009 Macedonian presidential election that followed, the turnout in the second round ended up being 42.6%.

History

During the period of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, there was a collective presidency which was abolished in 1991. Its first president was Metodija Andonov Čento, elected at the first plenary session of ASNOM, when the modern state was formed, while the last one was Vladimir Mitkov.

Following the transition from socialist system to parliamentary democracy in 1990, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia changed the collective leadership with a single-president post in 1991, few months before independence. Kiro Gligorov became the first president of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia on 27 January 1991.Kiro Gligorov was elected as a President on 27 January 1991, when the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was still an official name of the state. After the change of the state's name, he continued his function as a President of the Republic of Macedoni
The Official Site of The President of the Republic of Macedonia
On 16 April 1991 the parliament adopted a constitutional amendment removing the term "Socialist" from the official name of the country, and on 7 June of the same year, the new name Republic of Macedonia was officially established."On This Day"
- Macedonian Information Agency - MIA , see: 1991 Hence Gligorov continued his function as President of the Republic of Macedonia.

After the process of dissolution of Yugoslavia began, the Republic of Macedonia proclaimed full independence following a referendum held on 8 September 1991. Kiro Gligorov was incapacitated after an assassination attempt in 1995. Stojan Andov served as acting president for 44 days during Gligorov's incapacitation. On completing his second term as head of the independent state, Gligorov was succeeded by Boris Trajkovski in 1999. Following Trajkovski's death in 2004, he was succeeded by Branko Crvenkovski. Gjorge Ivanov won the 2009 presidential election and took office on 12 May 2009. He was re-elected in 2014. Stevo Pendarovski is the current incumbent and he took the office on 12 May 2019.

List of presidents

SR Macedonia

; Parties

; Status

Republic of Macedonia / North Macedonia

; Parties

; Status

Latest election

See also

* Vice President of North Macedonia
*Prime Minister of North Macedonia
* List of presidents of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia

References

External links

Official site of the president of North Macedonia

{{DEFAULTSORT:President Of North Macedonia

Government of North Macedonia
Presidents
1991 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia