Following the drubbing in the first round of the presidential elections, when his SDSM party and DUI coalition partner lost 2/5 of their vote total from 2017, Zoran Zaev is announcing another U-turn for what comes next after the second round of elections.

Under pressure from the opposition, Zaev acknowledged that a loss for his candidate Stevo Pendarovski, and unsuccessful elections due to low turnout, will lead to early general elections. But now he is resurfacing the proposal to amend the Constitution and to move the process to elect the President into the Parliament.

If Stevo Pendarovski wins one vote less than Gordana Siljanovska, I will begin to organize the early general elections. Although, my position is clear and we should not keep going into early general elections. If the required turnout is not met, the law has several options, including holding another round of presidential elections, amending the Constitution to remove the turnout requirement, or electing the President through the Parliament, Zaev said.

Zaev was able to put together the required two thirds majority in the Parliament to amend the Constitution and rename Macedonia, using bribes and blackmail of opposition members of Parliament who faced politically driven criminal investigations. Some of the Albanian parties who provide Zaev with the necessary majority to form the Government and amend the Constitution, are willing to have the President elected in Parliament believing that this would give them a permanent veto on the candidates. But, it’s unclear whether Zaev would have the 81 votes he needs if his presidential candidate Pendarovski suffers another dismal electoral day on May 5th.