Egyptian minority activist Demir Dalip claims that he is receiving threats from the ruling SDSM party which wants him to give up on his bid for Mayor at the upcoming local elections. Ohrid is voting for a new Mayor in April after SDSM’s Jovan Stojanovski died unexpectedly in December.

Several local news sites ran polls and to surprise of many I received significant support from the citizens. And shortly after I received the first “friendly advice” not to run. I belong to the Egyptian community, I’m handicapped, I’ve been a loyal, politically active citizen of Macedonia for over 20 years. I informed the SDSM coordinator Venko Paskali to tell him that the pressures against me are not acceptable and I hoped they will stop with their undemocratic actions, but after our talk the pressures on me only increased, Dalip said.

The activist adds that he informed the OSCE mission in Macedonia, as well as the EU, French and German ambassadors about the situation in the city and the threats he is receiving.