VMRO-DPMNE began the general election campaign like they do all such campaigns, with a traditional large rally in Ohrid, Party leader Hristijan Mickoski spoke about the dignity of the ancient city and its contribution to Macedonian and world history, and called on the supporters to build on their heritage to help restore Macedonia’s pride.

From Sts. Clement and Naum, Tsar Samoil to Gligor Prlicev and Petre Piruze – Majski, this is where history was made. The famous families of Ohrid and the people that lived here lived a glorious history which now serves as our guiding light to protect and nurture the idea that we believe in, the idea of Macedonia. The people are coming for what is our, what was taken away from us. We are coming for Macedonia, to have it bacak in our hands and to begin a major transformation of consciousness, of our way of life, our values, that will show everyone that we love our country and won’t give up, Mickoski said speaking before thousands of supporters.

During his speech he warned about a plan being formed in the still ruling SDSM party, which faces a serious defeat and could end up with fewer than 30 seats in Parliament – if the polls are correct.

Their calculation is that they will win 28 seats and all the Albanian parties will have 33 seats. And together they want to form a Government. Imagine what kind of a gang they’ve become, when they can dismiss the future of the country in this way. All they care about are their positions in power. They were even promising DUI that they will give them 50 percent of all state institutions. SDSM will keep only 30 for themselves and DUI and the other Albanian parties would take 70 percent of the total. They don’t even talk about changing the Constitution any more, all they care about is saving themselves from prison, Mickoski warned, adding that he’s confident the Albanian opposition parties won’t accept this offer and will respect the will of the majority of the Macedonian people.

Mickoski also promised to put an end to the infighting with the other Macedonian parties, like Levica and ZNAM, who are projected to win seats in the next Parliament. “Our name is VMRO-Democratic party for Macedonian national unity. It is a powerful name, both for the historic VMRO, but also for the obligation that comes from the second part of the name, to foster unity. So my first initiative to secure Macedonian national unity is to announce a moratorium on all attacks toward Levica and ZNAM. I feel that this is what the Macedonian people need, and is also my obligation to try to achieve the idea of national unity when it’s most needed to the country, when we need to save the country from a group of corruption DUI politicians and a group of corrupt SDSM politicians who sit in their laps”, Mickoski said.

Levica is campaigning strongly against VMRO-DPMNE, hoping to grab a piece of the conservative voting bloc. Relations between VMRO and ZNAM have been warmer, ZNAM recently split from SDSM, and their animosity is mostly directed toward their former fellow party members. As VMRO are projected to win over 50 seats, but likely short of an outright majority of 61, they are expected to turn to ZNAM before they make coalition plans with the opposition Albanian parties.