VMRO-DPMNE will not nominate candidates in the mayoral elections in Stip and Plasnica, said party leader Hristijan Mickoski. He insists that the spiking coronavirus situation does not allow holding elections.

VMRO won more votes that SDSM in Stip at the July 15 elections. SDSM had their Mayor of Stip Blagoja Bocvarski appointed Transportation Minister, leaving town hall vacant and prompting an early election. The regular municipal elections are scheduled in fall, and Mickoski said that there is no need to risk lives when the Government can appoint a caretaker Mayor for a brief period of time. Similarly the Albanian opposition parties have no intention to contest the place in Plasnica, where the DUI party Mayor Ismail Jahoski was elected to Parliament.

Given the apocalyptic situation with Covid-19, with dozens of lives lost every day, thousands infected, it is truly madness that Zoran Zaev and SDSM want to hold elections. We can’t endanger lives and we will not legitimize these elections, Mickoski said in an interview with Alfa TV.