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 A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state (polity), state#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international p ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. The office was first established a few months before the declaration of independence on 8 September 1991. The first president was

Kiro Gligorov Kiro Gligorov ( mk, Киро Глигоров, ; 3 May 1917 – 1 January 2012) was a Macedonian politician who served as the first President of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) from 1991 to 1999. Early life He was born in Štip, ...

, 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 A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

, the president is the commander-in-chief of the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

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 The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian res ...

; 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 A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

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 Presidential elections were held in Macedonia in 2009. The first round was held on 22 March, alongside local elections. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off round was held on 5 April 2009, which was won by Gjorge Ivanov o ...

that followed, the turnout in the second round ended up being 42.6%.

History

During the period of the

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

, 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 The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia ( mk, Антифашистичко собрание за народно ослободување на Македонија (АСНОМ), ''Antifašističko sobranie za narodno oslo ...

, when the modern state was formed, while the last one was Vladimir Mitkov. Following the transition from socialist system to

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

in 1990, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia changed the collective leadership with a single-president post in 1991, few months before independence.

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 North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

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 Stojan Andov ( mk, Стојан Андов; born 30 November 1935) is a Macedonian politician, a founding member of the Liberal Party of Macedonia and a former president of Parliament from 1993 to 1997. Early years and education Stojan Andov w ...

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 Gjorge Ivanov ( mk, Ѓорге Иванов, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian politician, who served as the 4th President of North Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early and personal life Born at Valandovo, Ivanov finished primary and secondary s ...

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 The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

; Parties ; Status

Republic of Macedonia / North Macedonia

; Parties ; Status

Latest election

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