DUI party officials told the Sloboden Pecat outlet that they expect 40 airplanes and over 100 full buses of emigrants to descend on the city of Kicevo for the second round of the local elections on October 31st. DUI faces a difficult fight in the city that DUI leader Ali Ahmeti considers his fief and which was heavily gerrymandered to produce an ethnic Albanian majority.

VMRO-DPMNE candidate, doctor Aleksandar Jovanovski, who is an ethnic Macedonian married to an Albanian, won the first round ahead of the incumbent Mayor and DUI candidate, former UCK terrorist commander Fatmir Dehari. The area has a very high emigration rate, especially among ethnic Albanians, and their voters are necessary for DUI to win. Jovanovski is counting on support from the Albanian opposition parties like AA, Alternative and to some extent BESA, but they are not strong in Kicevo. Fatmir Limani, an independent candidate who emerged from DUI, and who is related to Ahmeti, had a strong third place finish and could influence the final outcome if he supports Jovanovski. DUI, on the other hand, is hoping on ethnic Macedonian supporters from their partner SDSM, who desperately need DUI’s help in the crucial race for the capital Skopje. But while Jovanovski is a positive figure for the city’s Albanians, Dehari is far less palatable for Macedonians, given his role in the 2001 war.

VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski campaigned in Kicevo today to support Jovanovski.

SDSM and DUI are in panic and they are trying to fan the flames of ethnic hatred, working to portray us as nationalists and calling on mobilization against us, often through newly founded news sites in Albanian language. The same DUI whose officials ran to vote for the VMRO led Governments but now have dehydrated from spitting on us. Zaev and the clique around him are consciously trying to increase tensions, because they fear for their money and privileges. But the voters should know that the only thing that SDSM and DUI now defend are the criminals from both parties. Ordinary Albanians face the same problems that ordinary Macedonians do, while these criminals profit off their backs and act as if they own your votes, Mickoski said, noting how criminal contracts led to the devastating hospital fire in Tetovo which killed 14 patients and family members – most of them ethnic Albanians.

In contrast to the calls for the emigrants to come and vote in Kicevo, doctor Jovanovski said that he will work to create proper living conditions to put an end to the mass emigration from the city.

We have realistic projects that can be implemented – we will go after investors to create new jobs, that will also increase the salaries in the region. I will work to replace the asbestos water pipes, to expand the sewage network, clean up the illegal dump sites and replace the facades with energy efficient materials, Jovanovski said.

These calls come on the day when the BESA party, which still helps prop up Zaev’s Government with its key three votes, announced that it will support the Albanian opposition parties in all their races – against DUI. These include Skopje’s Cair district, Gostivar, Struga, Debar.. In exchange, BESA expects help from the AA and Alternative parties, as well as possibly VMRO-DPMNE, in what is for them the crucial race their leader Bilal Kasami wages against DUI’s Teuta Arifi for Mayor of Tetovo. This fight within Zaev’s coalition is seen as something that could sink his coalition.

Immediately after the results were known, I said that we need to support all Albanian opposition candidates that stand against DUI candidates, said Arben Taravari, the Mayor of Gostivar and deputy leader of the Alliance of Albanians, announcing his support for BESA against DUI in Tetovo. “We remain determined that DUI needs to be removed from power. I hope that BESA really intends to distance itself from this evil, but I note that it will only work if DUI is fully removed from power, not just on the local but also at the national level”, Taravari added, calling on BESA to leave Zaev’s coalition.