In just a few years, a dozen members of SDSM, including former prime ministers, ministers, MPs and mayors, had to leave the party or were expelled due to disagreements with Zoran Zaev.

“Republika” made a preview of the people who stood in his way, or tried to stand in Zaev’s way and were expressly politically eliminated.

The most recent example is the current mayor of Kumanovo, Maksim Dimitrievski. He was expelled from the party immediately after announcing an independent run for mayor after SDSM did not nominate him for mayor of the city.

Dimirievski assessed the expulsion as a smuggling move, called the party kidnapped and SDSM responded that the party’s statute is clear.

Dimitrievski was one of Zaev’s closest associates and even “bled” with him during the events of “April 27”.

But the first disagreements with him happened during the corona crisis when Dimitrievski informed the public that he tested positive for the coronavirus. The health authorities accused him of violating his self-isolation and going to Skopje to be tested privately and that he had to pay a fine.

According to party circles Dimitrivski has not been nominate for a new term because of Oliver Spasovski who insisted that Oliver Ilievski, with whom he is related, be the party’s choice.

In 2015, Solza Grceva was expelled from SDSM after she decided not to respect the party’s decision to boycott the work of the Parliament. She first acted as an independent MP and then formed the party “Voice for Macedonia”.

At one of the party rallies, the party leader Zoran Zaev was symbolically given a broom to clear the disobedient and those who do not work enough.

But, let’s be honest, it is not only Zaev who was calculating with those standing in his way. Branko Crvenkovski did the same. The first were Vlado Buckovski and Dimitar Buzleski in 2012.

Crvenkovski then explained that Buckovski had harmed the party and Buzleski and Cvetkovski due to independent candidacies in the then local elections.