Skopje, 22 January 2024 (MIA) — The writer Blazhe Minevski has withdrawn his bid for Macedonian Writers Association president and will not attend the adjourned emergency session of the MWA's electoral assembly on Jan. 27.

He cited as reasons flaws in the voters list; the lack of communication between the current MWA leadership and members; the lack of online voting options for members unable to attend in person; and the still unpaid travel expenses for out-of-town attendees of the Nov. 25 emergency session.

Minevski said the current leadership did nothing to notify the 65 of the 285 MWA members who did not have electronic addresses of any of the latest developments and invite them to sessions.

"The current (illegitimate) leadership did not propose a solution even for the 29 MWA members who live abroad," he wrote, pointing out that they should be either given the option to vote electronically or not counted in determining the quorum requirement unless they are able to attend in person.

Also, he said, renowned MWA members who were unable to attend in person due to old age should be given options to be included in important decisions.

According to Minevski, despite receiving a promise that their travel expenses would be reimbursed, out-of-town attendees of the previous emergency session had not received any such payments.

He said that the MWA was on the brink of collapse for the first time in its 77 years. MWA, he stressed, needed to catch up with the times.

"Perhaps the only way out of this catastrophic situation is the possibility of activating the MWA Council (former presidents) and/or for the membership to choose a temporary administration to overcome the crisis," Minevski wrote.

He said the voters list needed to be revised and a legitimate electoral assembly convened.

"I still hope that as a membership we will bear the responsibility and find a way for the Macedonian Writers Association to find a way out of the situation it has found itself in," Minevski wrote.

The MWA's emergency session to elect its new leadership was adjourned because of low attendance.

On Nov. 25, outgoing assembly speaker Kristina Nikolovska adjourned the session for Jan. 27 as the attending MWA members did not constitute a quorum to elect her successor and the successor of outgoing MWA president Hristo Petreski.

Previously, roughly a third of the MWA membership had called for the ouster of the association's leadership. mr/