VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski believes that a new ruling majority will be formed soon, and that it will prepare early general elections. Nikoloski spoke at a TV interview days after VMRO-DPMNE scored a major victory in the first round of the local elections, defeating SDSM 22:9 with most major urban centers going for VMRO.

These elections are a referendum on Zoran Zaev’s rule. We see that he accepted them as such and has declared that if he loses in Skopje he will resign as Prime Minister and SDSM leader. So these are no longer elections about local infrastructure problems, but about whether this system of corruption and backsliding that literally brought our country to the brink of being left without electricity, will be allowed to continue. We expect our citizens to turn out in large numbers and vote for change, Nikoloski said, predicting VMRO wins in the remaining major races such as Skopje, Bitola and Ohrid.

He said that forming a new majority, with members of Parliament who currently vote with Zaev but are not part of the SDSM and DUI parties, will be the first step toward holding early general elections.