As their electoral defeat became certain, SDSM party officials in the municipal administration went on a spending spree for their personal pleasure, said VMRO-DPMNE, which swept the local councils in October and is now auditing the spending by former officials.

In one instance, SDSM appointed Chairwoman of the Skopje City Council Ljubica Janceva spent 39,700 denars (650 EUR) on just one dinner in a posh restaurant on the Quay. The dinner was on October 22nd, after SDSM had already lost control of the Council.

We are talking about dinners composed of steak, fine fillet mignon and sea food, ordered by officials such as the head of the fire brigade in Skopje. Enormous sums of money were paid to restaurants after the elections, and the taxpayers are expected to foot the bills, VMRO-DPMNE said in a statement.