IRI Monitors Macedonia's Presidential Election

May 24, 2004

IRI deployed 16 teams of experienced election observers throughout Macedonia to monitor and report their observations of the emergency presidential election. Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski was killed in late February when his official aircraft crashed in bad weather over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Observers generally concluded that the election process adhered to internationally recognized standards and was generally representative of the will of the Macedonian electorate, despite occasional instances of voter fraud and intimidation.

IRI’s observation mission and the publicity it received substantially contributed to the post-election acceptance of the results, despite vocal calls by the opposition for invalidation or annulment of the results. The people of Macedonia generally regarded the results as valid and legal, and accepted the victory of Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski over rival MP Sasko Kedev, which is a key indicator of Macedonia’s progress in transitioning from a totalitarian society to a free society.

IRI observers included IRI Board Member Susan Golding, UK MP Roger Gale, PAN International Secretary Rolando Garcia-Alonso, and Paul McCarthy from the NED. The delegation also consisted of several state legislators, Hill staffers, foreign institutional partners and IRI staffers from throughout Europe and Washington D.C.

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