Justice Minister Krenar Loga revealed to the press that the ruling coalition is coming to a decision to combine the presidential and the general elections planned for 2024. Until recently, SDSM refused this common sense proposal from VMRO-DPMNE, who asked that the two elections, that should have taken place a month apart, are held on the same day, to avoid doubling the costs.

SDSM was hoping that it will do better in the presidential elections, with the help of its Albanian partners, and get a boost of optimism before the general elections where the polls show them at a deep disadvantage. But Loga today informed that May 8th is seen as a possible date for the second round of the presidential elections and the general elections. This would be on Wednesday – until now elections were always held on Sundays.

Off the record, I know that this date needs to be made official. We expect that the ruling coalition takes a position soon, and then talk to the opposition. But I believe this will be the date, Loga said.

The powerful First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi also said that May is a good onth to hold the elections, and to hold them at the same time. After Grubi’s DUI party recently took the position that the elections can be combined and held on the same day, SDSM’s opposition began to melt. SDSM is hoping that DUI will support a joint presidential candidate and, more importantly, a joint pre-election list of candidates. It would be the first time one of the two major Macedonian parties forms a pre-election coalition with such a large Albanian party, prompted by its collapse in the polls.