The Mayor of Kumanovo Maksim Dimitrievski condemned the SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev for trying to kick him out of the party. Dimitrievski announced an independent re-election bid after realizing that Zaev and Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski will not let him run for another term as the SDSM candidate.

At the last party congress, it was agreed that we need to ensure differences of opinion within the party. And now we have an example where different opinions are silenced. I will do what I can to change the party from within. There are many party members who disagree with the policies of the current leadership. There are individuals who have usurped the party, and Zaev keeps making allowances for them. He needs to explain what he owes them, Dimitrievski said.