Former Labour Minister Frosina Remenski announced that she is entering the race for SDSM leader. Remenski was ostracized in the party after numerous corruption allegations for her role in the Racket scandal. She is currently on trial in the second Racket case, although it’s widely assumed that she had only a side role in the extortion ring that included the top party leadership.

Other than Remenski, only Zoran Zaev’s handpicked successor Dimitar Kovacevski has announced his candidacy. Zaev resigned as party leader after his defeat in the local elections, and said that he will also resign as Prime Minister, once his successor is firmly in place.