Mass pre-dawn arrests meant to instill fear in the public and to gaslight away from the series of failures by the Zoran Zaev regime. As before, the targets are prominent opposition officials. Former minister Mile Janakieski was already in house arrest when he was detained, again, putting into question the way in which the entire police operation was staged.

Also arrested, Dimitar Dimovski, member of the VMRO-DPMNE Executive Committee. Dimovski was prominent recently as the man who led the revelations of actual crimes and scandals perpetrated by Zaev’s police, chief among them the police attempt to conceal the beating and torture of a citizen of Shuto Orizari by the municipal Mayor Kurto Dudus.

Dejan Mitrevski, VMRO-DPMNE leading official in the Aerodrom municipality is also arrested. Aerodrom swung in favor of the opposition at the recent presidential elections, sparking panic in the ruling coalition.

The latest series of arrests comes after Zaev suffered a humiliating failure in the only field where he could claim some success in the eyes of the public – the promised opening of EU accession talks. EU member states rejected his request for a June date, and the replacement promise, that talks will definitely begin in October, remains uncertain. This showed that the Government is losing support among its main source of legitimacy – the international factors. It never had the support of the Macedonian public anyway.

Zaev’s retracted promise of early elections if he fails to deliver on a June EU accession talks date can’t be avoided forever, especially if the outcome of the October European Council is the same as the one last week. All points out to the creation of a Przino style Government soon, which will prompt a resignation from Zaev as Prime Minister. His failed attempt to name himself Finance Minister is seen in this light – it would allow him to cling on to the Government, at least as a technical Finance Minister. His promised purge, reduced to the lowest possible scope not to upset the SDSM factions and the relations wih his Albanian partners, still caused open fractures in the Government. A deputy minister accused Zaev of incompetence in reforming a crucial system such as education. A Finance Ministry adviser went even further and openly accused a Deputy Prime Minister of rigging public procurement contracts.