After Zoran Zaev’s surprising offer that some parts of VMRO-DPMNE join him in a broad Government, the opposition party today issued a statement saying that this is another of Zaev’s attempts to divide the opposition and prolong his rule and avoid accountability for his crimes. Zaev is operating in coordination with a faction of former VMRO officials, led by former security chief Saso Mijalkov, and has been using them to try and create divisions in VMRO.

Afraid of his declining ratings, Zaev is using former VMRO-DPMNE officials to try and interfere in VMRO-DPMNE. This won’t save his Government which is barely functioning as it is. Aware that the revolt in his own party is growing as the elections draw near, Zaev is desperately trying to secure a few more days in office, VMRO-DPMNE said. Macedonia is due to hold municipal elections in October, and VMRO is calling for early general elections to be held at the same time, noting that Zaev’s coalition can barely gather enough votes to hold a sesssion of Parliament.

The offer was made after the Parliament narrowly re-approved Zaev’s Government, with the same 62 votes he had after the chaotic elections in July 2020. That is why his offer for a broad Government immediately after the vote confused the public and is seen as another in the initiatives to create divisions in the opposition, hoping that some in VMRO-DPMNE would be tempted to join Mijalkov’s faction if it could lead to positions in the public administration and access to public contracts.