North Macedonia’s ruling Social Democratic Union (SDSM) is facing what analysts are calling its “PASOK moment” — a reference to the collapse of Greece’s once-dominant socialist party — after a devastating loss in the first round of local elections that reshaped the country’s political landscape.
With only three mayoral wins compared to 33 secured by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM has been pushed to the brink of political irrelevance. The party, which led the country through NATO accession and EU integration reforms, is now struggling to maintain its footing as a pro-European force amid voter apathy and deep internal divisions.
VMRO-DPMNE, led by Hristijan Mickoski, won about 301,000 votes on municipal council lists — more than double the SDSM’s 126,000. For comparison, in the 2021 local elections SDSM had 111,000 more votes, totaling around 237,000. The party also lost its symbolic stronghold of Strumica, governed by Social Democrats for two decades.
The results were not entirely unexpected but sent shockwaves through Skopje’s political scene. The dominant narrative in the aftermath was not just the scale of VMRO-DPMNE’s victory, but the collapse of SDSM, which many view as the end of an era for the country’s pro-European center-left.
“As a long-time member of SDSM, I find this result painful but not surprising,” said Jovan Despotovski, a former leadership candidate. “In the past 15 months, we failed to convince voters we were building a new story — a new SDSM that could inspire hope.” He added that VMRO-DPMNE “read SDSM’s weaknesses very well and built a simple, understandable campaign message.”
Albanian bloc shifting too
The country’s ethnic Albanian political scene also saw a reshuffling. The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), a long-time power broker now running as the “National Alliance for Integration” (NAI), suffered setbacks against the governing coalition “VLEN,” which won five municipalities and leads in four others. DUI won four and leads in just one. Losing key bastions such as Tetovo and Čair marked a symbolic blow to DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, who has dominated Albanian politics for over two decades.
Still, DUI remains relatively stable compared to SDSM. It won about 114,000 votes in council elections, while VLEN took around 92,000. Analyst Sefer Tahiri said the results “reflect the political will of voters seeking change,” though he noted that some VLEN votes in Albanian-majority municipalities likely came from VMRO-DPMNE supporters.
Calls for accountability
Inside SDSM, frustration and calls for accountability are mounting. Former Strumica mayor Kostadin Kostadinov, once seen as a party rising star, called the results “a political and moral disgrace,” urging resignations from top leadership. Analysts warn of potential factional infighting if party leader Venko Filipče steps down.
Attempts by SDSM to downplay the loss — claiming the overall vote gap with VMRO-DPMNE had narrowed — were met with skepticism. In Skopje, SDSM’s candidate Kaja Šukova failed to advance to the runoff, finishing fourth behind VMRO-DPMNE’s Orce Gjorgjievski, who won nearly four times more votes.
A regional pattern
SDSM’s steep decline mirrors a broader trend across Europe where traditional social democratic parties have struggled to reinvent themselves. Like Greece’s PASOK, which imploded after years of dominance, SDSM is now grappling with disillusionment among voters, organizational fatigue, and an unclear ideological direction.
Once credited for stabilizing the country and steering it toward NATO and EU membership, the Social Democrats now face an existential crisis. Unless they undergo a serious renewal in leadership and message, analysts warn, SDSM could follow PASOK’s path — from pillar of government to political footnote.