The news that one of the key Zaev loyalists in the Government, Deputy Prime Minister Ljupco Nikolovski, has tested positive on the coronavirus, comes only days after the Zaev regime staged unnecessary mayoral elections in Stip.

The vote was boycotted by the opposition parties, who cited the exceptionally bad coronavirus rates as reason why the elections should be postponed, and the SDSM candidate predictably “won” with almost no competition. The nature of the win did not prevent SDSM from organizing noisy celebrations. A brass band was brought to the main city square, and a bar was opened despite the coronavirus restrictions, where SDSM officials celebrated without masks.

Nikolovski was among those who attended the post-election celebrations. He gave an indoors press conference, without a mask, and then went on to party with the mayoral candidate Sasko Nikolov and other top SDSM officials. When asked by the press, he insisted that the voting will be safe and the election, which could have easily been postponed for later in the year, will not contribute to an increase in Covid-19 cases.

Nikolovski has now revealed that he has “light symptoms”, got himself tested and is isolating after the test came back positive.