According to Pande Kolemisevski, the long serving head of the once powerful state run “Nova Makedonija” printing house, the political collapse of Zoran Zaev is due mostly to his infamous BGNES interview a year ago, in which he agreed to the main Bulgarian demands.

The interview was a wake-up call. It was an anti-historic and anti-national exclamation and it demolished his leadership position. That is when the first factions appeared, even though there were many rumors about disagreement in the party before that, Kolemisevski said.

Former party leader Branko Crvenkovski, who is considered its actual founder, said that he will freeze his membership in SDSM for as long as Zaev remains leader. Radmila Sekerinska, Zaev’s deputy leader, withdrew from the position months later, even though she remained as Defense Minister – “to deprive Zaev from the glory over the NATO membership”, Kolemisevski says.

Zaev tried to entrench himself in the party, to protect himself, and disastrously chose to run un-opposed as leader. The party never forgave him this decision, Kolemisevski says in his latest editorial.