.In a TV interview aired this evening, VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski issued an invitation to the opposition parties on the Macedonian political scene to join VMRO-DPMNE, as the clear winner of the first round of the presidential elections.

I called for national unity, unity against the Government, and all parties on the Macedonian political scene that declare themselves as opposition parties are welcome, Mickoski said.

The invitation is seen as primarily directed at Maksim Dimitrievski’s party ZNAM and the Albanian opposition bloc VLEN, but could, under some circumstances, include the deflating populist Levica party.

At one point I even urged SDSM to finally show sign of some capacity and send a message against the DUI party to its supporters and voters. Unfortunately, I was rebuffed. I’m very sorry that Pendarovski and Kovacevski missed out on this opportunity. But, let’s see through the vote on May 8th, let’s see the numbers, and then we can talk in more detail, Mickoski added.

The comments echo reports that SDSM officials and party branches, shocked by the magnitude of their defeat in the first round of the presidential elections, are openly courting ZNAM, and asking to join. ZNAM was formed by a former SDSM official, Kumanovo Mayor Dimitrievski, who turned against his former party because of its submissive position toward the Bulgarian demands and the DUI party. Dimitrievski is now openly courting VMRO for a post-election coalition, declaring that he will not join any coalition that includes SDSM and DUI – his seats in Parliament will very likely push VMRO over the number of 61 votes needed to form a Government, if VMRO doesn’t get to that number on its own. Depending on the outcome of the key vote on May 8th, the prospect of members of Parliament elected on the SDSM ticket joining ZNAM is also open.

Mickoski also announced that he is in talks with the VLEN coalition and that he greatly prefers them as his Albanian coalition partner over DUI, which VMRO condemns for its stupendous levels of corruption.

The reports we are receiving should reach the judicial authorities. I guarantee you that the future VMRO-DPMNE led Government will have no mercy toward anyone, in any case there is sufficient evidence. There will be no excuses, and you will see that I’m different from all who led this country and the Government of Macedonia. It is time that DUI goes in the opposition. They’ve been in power for too long. We need to give a chance to others to show their worth, Mickoski said in this evening’s 360 Degrees interview, talking about the allegations of corruption against DUI and the rest of the DUI led Government. He added that, as DUI is participating in the elections as a coalition, that includes parties representing other ethnic groups besides Albanians, the opposition VLEN bloc can be seen as legitimate representative of the Albanians.

As for Levica, this party has been trying to undermine VMRO by pushing a populist message designed to peel off voters angry over SDSM’s concessions on national identity issues away from VMRO and toward their extremely outspoken offer. But Levica crashed in the first round of the presidential elections, winning barely half the tally of ZNAM and about a tenth of the VMRO vote, and is now unlikely to build much above its current two seats in Parliament. Levica leader Dimitar Apasiev made a reciprocal move and offered to VMRO (which he dismissively refers to as DPMNE, omitting the historic moniker) to sign on to a platform that would guarantee that the Macedonian parties reject continued demands for concessions from the Albanian parties and curb foreign interference in Macedonia. It’s not clear whether Apasiev offers to support the next Government with his votes in Parliament, or will also want to be part of that Government.

Mickoski responded with a call to the opposition parties: “It is time that they answer whether they will call on their supporters to vote for Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova in the second round of the presidential elections. I think it is a legitimate question, to ask them, do they support Stevo Pendarovski or Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova. The logic implies that, if they are opposed to the Government, they will support Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova, who has clear positions, stands before the voters with her authority and offers a strategy for the way forward”.