Skopje, 9 October 2025 (MIA) — VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski at a campaign rally in the Municipality of Ilinden spoke about the country's judiciary and the system that SDSM had left behind, with "brakes built into the institutions" that hindered progress. 

"We are about to face the moment generations have been waiting for. It's time for a system reset," Mickoski said, adding that the time had come "to break the chains of injustice and build a state of justice, freedom and care for everyone." 

"The judiciary must be impartial and indomitable, with judges judging according to the law and not according to influences. Institutions need to protect, instead of keeping silent," he said, adding that justice should not be a privilege of a few, but the human right of all.

Mickoski also spoke about freedom. "Freedom is not just a word in the Constitution, but a vibrant way of life: freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, freedom from fear and pressure," the VMRO-DPMNE leader said. 

"SDSM turned the state into its own property, party business and a mafia system suffocating the institutions, obstructing justice and humiliating the people," he said, adding that "small and large brakes suffocate the work of the state, brakes built into the institutions, operating secretly or openly." 

These networks spanned across multiple parties, state institutions and across ethnic communities, he said. "At all levels, from the smallest agencies to larger structures, there are elements working as part of a 'deep state'," Mickoski said, adding that this needed to stop. 

VMRO-DPMNE's president noted that the announced reset had nothing to do with revanchism but with restoring trust in institutions and the rule of law. 

Mickoski also said justice would be swift and the reset would be ruthless to those who abused the nation. "We will restore responsibility, dignity, and importantly for us, a system we will all proudly serve," he said. mr/