Republic of Macedonia is an independent, democratic country. The political institutions are constituted by the will of its citizens by secret ballot at direct and general elections.Its political system of parliamentary democracy was established with the Constitution of 1991, which stipulates the basic principles of democracy and guarantees democratic civil freedom.

The Elections for Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia will be held on 18 October, 1998. The Assembly is composed of 120 Representatives, who are elected for a period of fouryears. Out of this number, 85 are elected according to the majority principle in 85 constituencies,and 35 - according to the proportional principle (the territory of the Republic of Macedonia representing one constituency).There are 1.572.976 voters registered in the General Electoral Roll for the election of Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, assigned in 85 constituencies, in 2.973 polling stations.The voting for the Representatives according to the majority principle can be conducted in two electoral rounds, whereas the voting according to the proportional principle ends in the first round.

Majority principle:

85 Representatives - 85 constituencies

Out of 40 registered political parties, 28 have nominated candidates. 635 candidates have been proposed from 28 political parties, eight coalitions and eight private members.In the first round, the candidate who wins the majority of votes (50% of the total number of votes cast) will be elected, providing that the number of votes won is not less than 1/3 of the total number of registered voters in the constituency. Second round: If no candidate has won the required number of votes in the first round, the voting will be repeated in 14 days (1 of November, 1998). The first two candidates in a constituency, who have won the largest number of votes in the first round shall participate in the second round.The candidate who has won the largest number of votes from the votes cast in the second round shall be elected Representative.

Proportional Principle

35 representatives - 1 Constituency

17 lists of candidates have been submitted from 22 political parties, out of which independently from 12 political parties, from four coalitions and from one group of voters, and the total number of nominated candidates is 595. The D’Hondt formula shall be applied for establishing the results of the vote. Only candidates lists, which have won at least 5% of the votes cast, may be represented in the Assembly. 

Repeated and additional elections

The Law on Electing Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia also stipulates cases and procedures for repeated and additional elections. The repeated elections will be performed if the competent electoral commission annuls the voting because of the irregularities stipulated by the Law.