North Macedonia’s Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has resigned as PM and leader of the ruling party following the huge defeat of the SDSM in the second round of local elections on October 31.

The announcement came after the independent candidate supported by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, Danela Arsovska, declared victory in the second round of voting in the capital of Skopje, defeating the current mayor Petre Silegov, a candidate of the ruling SDSM, who was running for a second mandate.

“I am taking the responsibility for the election defeat. I am resigning as prime minister and the president of SDSM,” Zaev said at the news conference, at which Silegov admitted his electoral defeat.

Zaev congratulated VMRO-DPMNE on the election victory.

"However, I remain of the opinion that snap general elections are not needed," Zaev said, adding that SDSM has the capacity to lead the country until the end of its mandate in 2024.

Zaev hinted earlier that he might resign if the ruling Social Democrats lose control of the capital Skopje in the second round of the local elections.

The results of the second round of voting showed clear anti-government sentiment among voters.

Among the reasons for the poor results of the ruling Social Democrats are their poor choice of candidates, the failure of the country to get a date to start EU accession negotiations and unhappiness with the government’s foreign policy, specifically the name deal with Greece and the rift with neighbouring Bulgaria, which critics say has tarnished the international reputation of the country. 

In the first round of the Skopje election on October 17, Arsovska had a lead of over 3 pp ahead of Silegov, who was running for another mandate.

However, after 87% of the votes were counted following the second round of voting, Arsovska won 55.5% of the votes, while just 41% voted for Silegov, according to partial data from the state election commission (SEC).

VMRO-DPMNE started celebrations in Skopje after it was clear that Arsovska would win the mayoral election. She will be the first woman to be mayor of Skopje.

Arsovska thanked Skopje citizens for their support in the local elections in the capital following, as she said, a “difficult battle in the campaign”.

“As of tomorrow we will start working for a cleaner city and for implementation of our projects,” Arsovska said.

VMRO-DPMNE candidates are leading in almost all municipalities, including in major towns like Bitola and Ohrid, where the second round of elections were held, or have already declared victory in some municipalities.

Leader of VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski expressed gratitude to the Left party (Levica) and Alliance for Albanians and the Alternative, announcing a future coalition between them in the next general elections.

"This opposition bloc will win the next parliamentary elections, which are likely to be early elections," Mickoski said.

The turnout in the second round was 48.6%. The final results are expected to be announced on November 1.

Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski said that the elections were fair and democratic without major incidents.

The second round of voting was held in 44 municipalities plus in the capital Skopje, while the first round will be repeated in two municipalities due to the low turnout.

The SEC announced on October 22 that VMRO-DPMNE won mayoral positions in 21 municipalities in the first round, while the ruling SDSM only won such posts in nine municipalities.

The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union of Integration (DUI), the junior coalition partner in the government, won three mayor positions in the first round. The country is divided into 80 municipalities plus the capital Skopje.