In his interview with Alfa TV, groundbreaking Italian journalist Laris Gaiser says that he expects VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski to be the next Macedonian Prime Minister while he sees President Pendarovski as challenging Zoran Zaev for the leadership of the SDSM party.

If he is and is trying to become the next Prime Minister he must be cooperative, he must talk, he must show that he has a comfortable vision for the country and the future. To show that he is not a corrupt man, he is not trying to blackmail others, that he is not using or abusing materials in order to make an exchange with Zaev, Gaiser told Alfa TV.

Gaiser sees the recent moves by President Stevo Pendarovski, who called a meeting of party leaders following Zaev’s defeat in Brussels, and thus sparked early general elections, as his positioning to take over the SDSM party.

This is a smart way by the President to put himself up for future leadership of the social-democratic party in Macedonia, Gaiser says.