Brvenica heads to a runoff: VMRO-DPMNE first, but with 445 fewer votes than last year, while NAI nearly doubled its tally

The early election for mayor of Brvenica, called after Mayor Jovica Ilievski died in June, will be settled in a runoff on 1 November. It will pit Stojančo Radički of the VMRO-DPMNE-led "Your Macedonia" coalition, with 2,943 votes or 38.90 percent, against Arkin Jahij of the DUI-led National Alliance for Integration (NAI), with 2,152 votes or 28.45 percent.

Third was Jakup Huseini of VLEN with 1,528 votes, and the candidate of the SDSM-led coalition, Jovica Radeski, won 706. Of 16,256 registered voters, 7,565 cast a ballot, a turnout of 46.56 percent - higher than a year ago.

This is where the facts end and the spin begins. Compared with the first round in October 2025, the VMRO-DPMNE candidate has 445 fewer votes, even though turnout was higher. NAI jumped from 1,147 to 2,152 votes. VLEN fell from 2,021 to 1,528. SDSM rose from 481 to 706.

Each side picked its own number. SDSM calculates 46 percent growth for itself and a decline for the ruling party. DUI hails reaching the runoff as confirmation of Albanians' political representation. The quietest is VLEN, which in one year lost nearly a quarter of its votes in Brvenica.

Analysts warn that in local elections the candidate's personal standing carries a lot of weight, so the result in one municipality cannot be read as a national poll of the parties. True. But when the parties themselves wave these numbers around as proof of their ratings, readers are entitled to ask: if a loss is always "local", why is a win always "national"?