Zoran Zaev denied reports that parties from his coalition are in talks with the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, looking to switch allegiance as the early elections draw near.

Zaev scooped up a number of smaller parties who used to be allied with VMRO after he grabbed power in 2017. But now, with his SDSM party down in the polls, some of them began to put distance from SDSM and VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski confirmed that talks are on-going. Mickoski yesterday met with his coalition partners and rebranded their grouping into a Coalition for Renewal of Macedonia.

Every party is independent in its actions, but I expect that my coalition will grow, Zaev said. The faces of some of the coalition partners following Zaev’s meeting with them on Sunday, did not exactly exude enthusiasm.

https://english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/zaev-asks-his-coalition-partners-some-of-which-were-openly-skeptical-to-support-his-pre-election-campaign/

Zaev also denied reports that he is preparing Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski to replace him as interim Prime Minister in the 100 days before the elections. Zaev is obliged to resign by January 3rd 2020, and his SDSM party will need to pick a different Prime Minister.

It is early to talk about the technical PM and ministers, we are now focused on the pace of economic reforms, Zaev said, adding that his goal now is to achieve a growth rate of 4 percent for 2019.