Albanian political parties are opposed to the proposal from VMRO-DPMNE and a group of smaller parties, to abolish the six electoral districts and conduct general elections in one single district.

The only majority ethnic Albanian district in Macedonia, the 6th, north-western district, is greatly reduced in size and has far less voters than the other five districts. This is due to its high emigration rate, which means that while on paper its population is evenly matched with that of the other five districts, in reality, its 20 representatives are elected with far less cast votes than representatives in other districts. If the districts are abolished and the votes cast in the 6th district are distributed across the country, ethnic Albanian parties who now dominate this district will lose at least several seats.

The BESA party, which left the SDSM – DUI coalition and is aligning with the opposition, came out against the proposal. This party wants to see Macedonia divided in three electoral districts. The Alliance of Albanians, which is also part of the opposition bloc, wants to see eight districts. Antonio Milososki from VMRO-DPMNE announced that the party will meet with the Alliance tomorrow to discuss their differences on this issue. Milososki said that it is possible VMRO officials will meet with DUI as well – DUI could be the biggest loser of the proposed new electoral map, and has also come out in favor of having three districts.

VMRO is dangling this proposal in front of the smaller parties DS, DOM, LDP and a number of smaller ethnic parties, who currently prop up the SDSM – DUI Government. If the six districts are abolished, these parties would be able to win seats on their own, without being forced to enter into coalitions with VMRO or SDSM. The proposal could help spark early elections if these smaller parties side with VMRO over the election reform proposal.