SDSM candidate for Mayor of Karpos Dusko Veskovski avoided the debate with his opponent and former Mayor Stevco Jakimovski for the fifth time. Jakimovski dutifully showed up at the TV24 studio to debate Veskovski, but the SDSM candidate did not show up.

I know it’s difficult for him to debate someone who really knows his stuff. I know Karpos like the back of my hand, said Jakimovski, who ran the municipality for over a decade before losing in 2017 after which he was subjected to persecution by SDSM. Jakimovski was second placed after the vote on October 17th, and given the large contingent of votes cast for the third placed VMRO-DPMNE candidate – votes that could go to Jakimovski – he is well placed to win in the run-off.