The new IPSOS poll, conducted in person in the first half of March, shows that SDSM support has collapsed and VMRO-DPMNE now leads the ruling party 2:1.

The poll showed that VMRO-DPMNE has the support of 18.2 percent of the population, against just 9.5 percent for SDSM. Levica ranks third from the Macedonian bloc, with the support of 4 percent of the voters.

In the Albanian camp, DUI continues to lead ahead of the Alliance of Albanians, but by a narrow margin – 4.1 to 3.5 percent. Coupled with BESA, which polls at 1.2 percent, the Albanian opposition parties are actually ahead of DUI.

By individual politicians, VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski leads the pack with support of 9 percent, followed by President Stevo Pendarovski with 6 percent and SDSM’s little known new leader Dimitar Kovacevski with 4 percent (Zoran Zaev shaves off two points from Kovacevski’s support level). Levica’s firebrand Dimitar Apasiev ranks next with 3 percent – the same level of support as DUI leader Ali Ahmeti.

IPSOS also polled citizens on the looming new treaty with Bulgaria. The poll shows that 39 percent want Macedonia to demand reciprocal concessions from Bulgaria to all the concessions Bulgaria demands from Macedonia. Only 20 percent would agree that the Bulgarian community is added to the Macedonian constitution with no reciprocity, but on condition that Bulgaria gives written guarantees that it will left its veto. 39 percent want Bulgaria to include the Macedonian community in its constitution in return, and ten percent would agree to this without reciprocity and without written guarantees from Bulgaria. 31 percent said that they don’t have a position on this issue.