SDSM Vice President and MP Muhamed Zekiri thinks his party has resurrected DUI, and the Albanian electorate is also very angry and disappointed with them. He emphasized that SDSM particularly revived DUI during the 2017 local elections when it formed a pre-election coalition with the Albanian party.

Zekiri made these remarks on the “Pressing” show aired on Kosovo’s T7 TV, adding that if SDSM had not helped DUI, which he considers to be one of the ruling party’s biggest mistakes, DUI would have lost the larger municipalities like Cair.

We are mostly criticized for helping DUI come to life again, especially in the local elections. And I was one of the loudest in the party leadership, as vice president, that we shouldn’t do that. That we should not come out as a coalition in the local elections to help DUI. However, most of the leadership thought that they are still a government partner with which we need to keep the government, have the number of MPs and that we need to continue our cooperation and help them. I think that was our biggest mistake. The SDSM should have stood aside and left the voters alone to decide for whom to vote. Without the help of SDSM, DUI would have lost key municipalities in the local elections. They would have lost Cair, Tetovo, Debar, Struga. They would have lost the big cities, Zekiri said.

Asked what SDSM got in return, Zekiri says that from the pre-election coalition with DUI, SDSM only won Skopje, ie DUI helped Silegov win in the first round.

While in opposition, the SDSM did not refrain from calling DUI officials criminals and collaborators of the regime.

DUI’s victory was narrow thanks to the SDSM votes. The Macedonian electorate was instructed by the party that their candidates should be supported. And now we know that in the municipalities run by DUI we have big problems in managing and cooperating with DUI mayors, says Zekiri.

Zekiri did not disclose which Albanian party would prefer to join SDSM in the pre-election coalition.

It’s too early to talk about preferences. Personally, if you ask me, the only party with which we should not make a coalition is DUI and no other party. I am constant in that direction. We are open to all and there is nothing wrong with a pre-election coalition with other Albanian parties. According to polls, SDSM is third in terms of support among the Albanian electorate. DUI is still first, but very close to the Zijadin Sela’s Alliance, which is growing, and we are third as SDSM, with Besa and Alternative with still much less support, he said.