The leadership election in SDSM was a farce in which Zoran Zaev appointed a pawn to lead the party, which is still a private business of the Zaev family, VMRO-DPMNE said in a statement following the election of Dimitar Kovacevski as new SDSM party leader.

Zaev resigned as leader after losing the October local elections to VMRO, and promptly elevated the little known Deputy Finance Minister Kovacevski as leader, who dominated the party wide vote yesterday. Zaev is now hoping to appoint Kovacevski as head of his fractured coalition in Parliament and as new Prime Minister.

Nothing changed in SDSM. Zaev continues to rule the party, and from Kovacevski we heard the same phrases and the same harmful policies that mired Maceodnia in corruption, and in an economic, energy and healthcare crisis. Zaevism can only be defeated in elections and that is the only way for Macedonia to progress forward, VMRO-DPMNE said in its statement.