English
Doctor Andrej Petrov, former Secretary General of SDSM and Mayor of Karpos, came out against party leader Venko Filipce, and Filipce’s refusal to assume responsibility for the massive local elections defeat. Filipce said that he will remove lower level officials, but that he does not see any need for his own responsibility.
The President of the party is the first who is responsible in defeat. In victory, the gain is collective. I’ve witnessed several resignations of party leaders. They were painful. What we need now is not to be hasty, and to make an in-depth analysis with cool heads, Petrov said in a TV interview. In the interview, Petrov acknowledged the suspicions within the party that Filipce, who is part of Zaev’s wing of the party, is sabotaging his own party in the hope that this will buy some leniency with the Government over Zaev’s major corruption allegations.
Petrov added that it is not a coincidence that former party leader Branko Crvenkovski is making rare public appearances that are seen as encouraging factions within SDSM. Former President Stevo Pendarovski is also seen as critical of Filipce, and he exchanged public comments over this with former Interior Minister Ljubomir Frckoski, who is supportive of Filipce.
