VMRO-DPMNE member of Parliament Brane Petrusevski responded to the decision by the Levica party to compete alone in the coming local elections, without forming a coalition with VMRO.

Levica can’t grab power by itself. Not now, not in the future. But apparently Apasiev (the Levica leader) wants to learn this the hard way, Petrusevski said.

The Kumanovo member of Parliament is frequently engaged in disputes with the Levica leader, who often attacks VMRO more than he goes after the ruling SDSM party. Petrusevski posed a question – who gains from Apasiev’s refusal to join forces with VMRO – strongly implying that it’s SDSM and its leader Zoran Zaev. Levica supported Zaev’s powergrab in the 2015 Colored Revolution, but has since turned against him. Still, the party’s main effect on the political map is to divide the opposition vote and help Zaev barely cling to power after the chaotic 2020 elections.