Tetovo Mayor Bilal Kasami said that, despite their victory in the Albanian camp, DUI did not win the Albanian vote in the first round of the elections.

DUI candidate Bujar Osmani defeated the candidate of the VLEN opposition Albanian bloc Arben Taravari. According to latest results, Osmani won just over 100,000 votes, while Taravari got 71,900.

But before the elections, deeply concerned by the rise of VLEN, DUI formed a coalition that includes a number of parties that represent the Roma, Turks and other minorities. This, according to Kasami, means that there is no clear victory in the Albanian camp, which is what DUI was trying to achieve.

VLEN won the Albanian vote. DUI lost its legitimacy to represent the Albanians. Translated into seats in Parliament, these results will yield a minor difference, Kasami said, openly announcing that VLEN is expecting to be the Albanian partner in the next Government, led by VMRO-DPMNE, while SDSM and DUI will go in the opposition.

DUI supporters gathered in front of the Skenderbeg monument in downtown Skopje this evening to celebrate. Police was deployed there to protect the office of the VLEN coalition from possible attack by DUI supporters.