The SDSM party continues to distribute the food it was apparently stockpiling in order to bribe poor voters for the April 12 elections that were canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic.
After distributing potatoes and cooking oil in poor, often Roma neighborhoods in Kumanovo and Strumica, SDSM official Ljatifa Sikovska was using her NGO organization “Umbrella” to do the same in Skopje’s Madzari district. Among the packages were Ressana cookies which the recipients later noticed were out of date.

Roma News reported on the case and cited Roma from Madzari saying that Sikovska was delivering the food, ostensibly as aid during the coronavirus epidemic. The practice of bribing poor voters is rampant ahead of elections, and the timing of the “coronavirus aid” deliveries by SDSM, so close to the expected election date, seemed as a clear case of vote buying.

Sikovska confirmed that her organization is delivering food, but denied the allegation that she was distributing food that is out of date.