Berovo, 5 October 2025 (MIA) - SDSM leader Venko Filipche addressed Sunday a townhall debate in Berovo as part of his party's local election campaign during which he accussed VMRO-DPMNE of working for the oligarchs. "To them, the citizens are nothing else but a number in the voters' list," he said insisting the government isn't interested in the needs of the citizens. 

Instead of creating jobs, Filipche said, now some of the companies are laying off workers, SDSM said in a press release.

SDSM, he recalled, when in power had shown it had mechanisms to protect the standards for living, to increase salaries and to protect the companies. "Even now in opposition, we've offered solutions on how to put curb rising food prices, but like all the other measures, it was rejected by VMRO-DPMNE," Filipche told supporters in Berovo.

Criticizing VMRO-DPMNE's election campaign, Filipche said it only served as a justification of "the catastrophic incapability we are witnessing for a year and a half at central level and for four years in the municipalities."

SDSM's candidate for mayor of Berovo, Ilija Runtevski, at the event conveyed messages of unity, continuity and development saying Berovo's future is their common goal, the opposition party said in a press release. 

"We will continue to modernize infrastructure, streets, sidewalks, street lighting. We'll invest in parks, kindergartens and sports facilities for our children to grow in a healthy environment," Runtevski said announcing that tourism and the environment will be top priority.