VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski declared victory for the opposition party in the local elections, as Zoran Zaev was announcing his resignation in a near simultaneous press conference.

Many doubted us but the hope prevailed. Macedonian must change and the changes begin today. We all dream for a better future. But today we begin to change the image of the country, and begin our work to improve living standards and secure our future. I’m grateful to all the citizens who voted for us, and to those who didn’t – whose support we will continue to seek. We went through much turmoil but it was worth it, Mickoski said.

Mickoski expressed his gratitude to the populist Levica party, that supported the VMRO candidates in the crucial second round of the elections, driven by the united goal to unseat Zaev. He also notably thanked the LDP and DOM parties, who are still nominally part of Zaev’s central coalition, but campaigned separately and against him in the local elections. LDP and DOM have three seats in Parliament and could bring down Zaev’s coalition all by themselves. He also thanked the Albanian opposition parties – the Alliance of Albanians and Alternative. Together with them and Levica, VMRO has a potential coalition with 58 seats in Parliament, against the 62 that Zaev has with the help of DUI, BESA, LDP/DOM and numerous other smaller parties.

During his press conference, Mickoski called on Zaev to resign, which Zaev did almost immediately after. But Zaev said that he still hopes to see his SDSM party remain in power.