SDSM party activists are bribing poor Roma families in Stip ahead of the coming local elections, VMRO-DPMNE officials in the city alleged today, sharing photographs as evidence. According to Ljube Zdravkov from VMRO-DPMNE, the SDSM activists were operating under the guise of the Red Cross.

This is common practice from the ruling SDSM party in pre-election times, when businesses directly linked to the Zaev family would distribute food and cooking oil to poor families – often using the coronavirus epidemic as an excuse, but in reality demanding the votes in exchange for the food.