The nomination of Zaev loyalist Ljupco Nikolovski as Deputy Prime Minister tasked with fighting corruption is absurd, said the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party. VMRO official Igor Zdravkovski reminded the public that Nikolovski, as Secretary General of SDSM, was deeply involved in organizing the chaotic July 15 elections, during which millions were spent to bribe voters.

SDSM distributed money directly to voters in poor neighborhoods, but also through various Government programs, introduced under the guise of fighting the economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic. The public debt grew by unprecedented billion EUR in the months leading up to the elections.

It’s absurd to have a man who worked in Zoran Zaev’s wings for so many years, who is responsible for election irregularities and bribing voters, to be the face of the fight against corruption. What we saw in the last elections was the biggest bribery operation ever instituted in Macedonia, Zdravkovski said.

The position is a newly created one, apparently with the goal of having Nikolovski back in the Government, where he was Zaev’s first Agriculture Minister. It’s also being created after the spectacular collapse of the SDSM aligned Special Prosecutor’s Office, and a series of major corruption scandals.