Siljanovska Davkova Officially Becomes North Macedonian President

Skopje (North Macedonia) Photo by Pixabay

North Macedonian president-elect Gordana Siljanovska Davkova was sworn in before the parliament on May 12, officially marking the start of a five-year term.

After taking her oath of office -- during which she avoided saying the full constitutional name of North Macedonia, saying instead that "I will protect the sovereignty of Macedonia," Siljanovska Davkova stressed that she would be the president of all citizens, and that now was the time for unity.

"I will be president of the left and right side [of the parliament]. I will be president of all citizens. I will not discriminate along ethnic, religious or any other lines," said the new president of North Macedonia, who devoted a large portion of her speech to women's rights and the struggle for equality.

Siljanovska Davkova, the first female president of the country, was born on May 11, 1953, and won the May 8 runoff election in a landslide, after the April 24 presidential vote. A candidate of the conservative VMRO DPMNE party, she received 561,000 votes, or 65.14 percent, while Social Democratic Alliance candidate Stevo Pendarovski won 251,899 votes, or 29.25 percent.