Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski was met with criticism after he held an event to hand out SDSM party membership cards in Kumanovo.

The move raised concerns about abouse of political institutions such as the powerful Interior Ministry for political purposes. Spasovski used his Facebook profile, which is normally dedicated to promoting the work of the Interior Ministry, to show off the proud new SDSM party members from Kumanovo.

Our family is growing. The SDSM group in Kumanovo now has 814 additional members, young, enthusiastic men who want to join the party at a time when we write history for our country. SDSM is open for high quality, young, educated cadres who want to invest in the party and in the country, Spasovski wrote.

For good measure, the event was held in a hall adorned with a statue of Marshall Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav one party Communist state.