English
Igor Ivanovski, Andrej Petrov, Gordan Georgiev, Nikola Kjurkchiev, Slavjanka Petrovska, Emilijan Stankovikj and other disgruntled former top officials of the SDSM party – acting as part of the democratic platform “Conversations about the Future at 12:05”- announced today that they will submit their requests to SDSM leader Venko Filipche. They are calling for structural changes within the party and a fundamental shift in how it operates. During a briefing with journalists, they outlined their next steps and objectives aimed at achieving what they described as genuine, healthy progress for Macedonia—progress that cannot be realized under the current SDSM leadership.
They categorically reject the idea of forming a new party; instead, they want to see changes within their own party—specifically, the restoration of democratic mechanisms and a return of the party to its membership and the public—as well as the formation of a broad opposition front, which is not possible under the current leadership.
“We are SDSM. No one at [party headquarters on] Bihakjka Street has the right to claim the party as their own. We will not form a new party; we will not become ZNAM or NSDP. We will not field independent election lists, whether the elections are early ones in 2027 or regular ones in 2028. We want to attract citizens to our multi-ethnic platform. Our goal is to bring about changes in the SDSM leadership so that, ultimately, this front can challenge the government in the elections and defeat it,” said Ivanovski. Ivanovski assessed that the party, which once fought against a “captured state,” has today become a “captured party”; consequently, he believes that changes must begin within SDSM. They claim to have a detailed plan to remove Filipche from the leadership position.
“We have a plan and will act quickly. We want to give Venko Filipche one more chance to come to his senses and work in support of this cause. He does not represent the SDSM membership; he only obtained his membership card right before becoming a minister. When we were fighting against the regime, Filipche was part of the ‘counter-plenum.’ We have a plan to bring about structural changes within SDSM,” emphasized the “Platform 12:05” group.
MP Slavjanka Petrovska stated that the current level of political debate is low.
“Some ask why we have appeared now. We are only now gaining media exposure, but for at least two years, each of us—independently and without prior coordination—has been communicating with the SDSM leadership regarding anomalies and shortcomings. I held several meetings with the president concerning SDSM. My observations were met either with silence or with agreements that were subsequently never implemented. The bottom line is that unless it changes, SDSM will disappear,” said Petrovska.
The next round of discussions by the democratic platform will take place this Saturday at 12:05 PM at the Stone Bridge Hotel. As announced, the discussion will address, among other things: a re-examination of key challenges from independence to the present day; mistakes made versus progress achieved; the exercise of power as a paradigm of the current sense of hopelessness; lessons learned from the past and possible paths for the future; and a new social contract as a necessity for putting Macedonia back on its strategic track.