After the mayoral elections in Stip, which were boycotted by all main opposition parties, VMRO-DPMNE said that the vote was a “mafia election”, fraught with bribery and intimidation.

Zaev organized another election in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic just to protect his political power. They had people sick with Covid-19 vote without any safety protocols. They bribed voters with up to 200 EUR per vote. They pressured citizens to vote just to protect their mayoral seat. This is a Pyrrhic victory which the citizens will pay for with their health, said member of Parliament Ivan Jordanov.

A little over 14,000 citizens voted, 11,000 of which supporter SDSM candidate Sasko Nikolov. Jordanov pointed to the fact that turnout at the July general election, held during the lower intensity of the epidemic, was 24,000 and that 29,000 people voted in the prior municipal elections in 2017. 

Even afterr the massive bribery and pressure tactics used on the citizens, Zaev’s policies were defeated in Stip. The turnout of just 34 percent amounts to defeat for Zaev, VMRO-DPMNE said in a press release.