SKOPJE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian authorities on Monday started the electoral campaign for local polls scheduled to take place on Oct. 15.
Macedonians will cast their vote to elect new mayors and heads of communes and replace current officials whose term has expired since May of this year.
These are the first polls being organized by the government of by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, hence many political experts see these elections as a test for the new government.
The Macedonian premier has firmly asked the state institutions to be engaged in guaranteeing citizens' right to free and democratic vote.
The government has also signed a declaration under which the state items, facilities or other means should not be used for electoral purposes or political gains.
The main electoral race will be held in the Macedonian capital Skopje between SDSM (Macedonian Social Democratic Union) led by Zoran Zaev and VMRO-DPMNE of Nikola Gruevski.
The candidate of SDSM in Skopje is the spokesperson of this party, Petre Silegov, while the candidate of VMRO-DPMNE is the current mayor of Skopje Koce Trajanovski, who is running for a second mandate.
