In a press conference today, Zoran Zaev was evasive when asked about his previous pledge to resign if his candidate loses the mayoral race in the capital Skopje.

I reiterate that I am a fighter. I appeal to fight. I confronted my people with all the detailed information he needs to know, to decide what the options are in this election. I’m here, I fought, I fight and I will fight, but I need the people’s support in the municipalities. The city of Skopje is very important in the everyday life of the citizens and of the state, especially with the increased authorities municipalities have with the third stage of decentralization, Zaev said when asked about his pledge to resign if Mayor Petre Silegov loses the race to the VMRO backed candidate Danela Arsovska.

When asked again about his pledge, Zaev again called his supporters to vote on Sunday and “secure a progressive future”.
A day after the first round of the local elections, which his SDSM party badly lost to VMRO, Zaev said that he can’t remain as leader of the Government if he loses in the capital city and a majority of other municipalities. This was probably meant as a plan to energize his former supporters, given that the SDSM vote nearly halved from the 2017 local elections, but it also inadvertently energized opposition voters. Since then, Zaev said that he will resign as Prime Minister, but that his SDSM party will remain in charge of the Government and will try to prevent holding early elections. This despite the fact that his two key Albanian coalition partners, DUI and BESA, are locked in a fight for control of the largest majority Albanian city Tetovo, and BESA is openly asking for the votes of the opposition in the run-off.

I absolutely do not see a threat to the ruling majority. These are local elections, it is legitimate for all parties to forge their own partnerships, Zaev said.

He demanded that VMRO-DPMNE clarifies its position on the treaties Zaev is imposing on the country – the Prespa Treaty with Greece, his Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria and his plan to introduce bilingualism in Macedonia making the Albanian language co-official. During the press conference Zaev again implied that it is more likely that the Albanian opposition Alternative party joins his coalition, than BESA leaving it.