Skopje, 13 January 2026 (MIA) — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and VMRO-DPMNE vice president Aleksandar Nikoloski said the ruling VMRO-DPMNE had initiated a leaders meeting Wednesday to consider key issues together with other parties instead of it being perfunctory as the leaders meetings held while SDSM was in power.

"The prime minister and VMRO-DPMNE have shown their magnanimity, given that we have an almost two-thirds majority in Parliament, an extremely comfortable position that is not conditioned by any negotiations or agreements," Nikoloski said.

"Nonetheless, we decided to initiate a leaders meeting on the biggest issues we believe are currently in the country's political focus."

When SDSM was in power, he said, "they did not want to communicate at all and leaders meetings were perfunctory." 

Regarding SDSM's declining the invitation, he said if the social democrats wanted to isolate themselves, VMRO-DPMNE could not do anything about it.

"There is a strange moment in the public discourse," Nikoloski said. "SDSM is becoming Levica, and Levica is becoming SDSM — in the sense that what used to be a symbol of destruction is now slowly being taken over by SDSM." 

He said the SDSM relied on press releases "badly translated from Serbian." 

"So I think it will become clear where all this destruction comes from," he said.

He welcomed DUI's decision to attend the leaders meeting. "It is good that DUI will attend. And this is what we want to achieve, for the most relevant political parties to sit down and talk. SDSM remains isolated, destructive, but they still have time to change their position until tomorrow at 2 pm. I hope that they will change it and that the most relevant political parties will sit down at one table," he said.

He dismissed the possibility of discussing a snap election during the meeting, saying it was "a made-up topic that once again shows SDSM's weakness." 

He said the party leaders would, however, discuss the need of abolishing the caretaker government.

"In 2015, the caretaker government was agreed on in a completely different political context. It was a solution to a political crisis. By the next regular parliamentary elections, 12.5 years will have passed since that political crisis. The caretaker government has outlived its time and the reasons it was created for," he said, adding that "we are the only country among normal European democracies still doing this."

Asked why VMRO-DPMNE did not agree to abolishing the caretaker government while they were in opposition, Nikoloski said they had pushed for it, but SDSM and DUI had had an agreement for DUI to get a prime minister. "Talat Xhaferi became prime minister, which was outside all election rules," he said, adding that this was the reason the SDSM lost the elections. mr/