North Macedonia: 3 candidates in presidential race

Election authorities in North Macedonia say three people, including a law professor who is the country’s first female candidate, will run for president of the newly renamed country in April 21 elections.

The state electoral commission said late Thursday that centre-left candidate Stevo Pendarovski is facing off against conservative professor Gordana Siljanovska Davkova and Blerim Reka, who represents two small ethnic Albanian parties, for the largely ceremonial post.

Conservative President Gjorge Ivanov’s second and final five-year term ends May 12. He has been a fierce opponent of the deal reached between his country’s social democrat government and neighbouring Greece to change the country’s name from Macedonia to North Macedonia, an agreement that ended a decades-old dispute.

Campaigning for the presidential election officially begins on April 1.