SDSM party leader Dimitar Kovacevski confirmed that President Stevo Pendarovski has applied to the party to seek its nomination for a second term, but also said that other candidates have applied, including Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Bytyqi.

Bytyqi could be another concession SDSM makes to the Albanian national cause and its crucial DUI partner, as he would be an SDSM candidate, but also an ethnic Albanian. This could help DUI avoid pressure from the Albanian opposition parties, who insist to run their own ethnic Albanian candidate. DUI is worried that if its coalition with SDSM forces it to support an ethnic Macedonian candidate, this would push many of its voters to support the opposition Albanian candidate, which could cause a snowball effect in the general elections held two weeks later.

We will nominate a presidential candidate who will carry on the work of the Government, which is the European integration of the country, Kovacevski said, when asked about the candidacies of Pendarovski and Bytyqi. Former Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski is also clearly in the running for this position, while former party leader Radmila Sekerinska is also reportedly planning a run.