Gevgelija, 10 October 2025 (MIA) — VMRO-DPMNE president Hristijan Mickoski told a campaign rally in Gevgelija ahead of the Oct. 19 local elections that his opponents SDSM would experience a debacle at the polls.

"For our opponents, these are elections where they want to save their political careers," Mickoski said, adding that "the key to this scenario of theirs is in the controlled judiciary and prosecution."

Criticizing the court for ordering house arrest instead of issuing a detention order for a prime suspect in a REK Bitola procurement abuse case, Mickoski said: "This is why SDSM and DUI are not voting for the removal of Ljupcho Kocevski, because that is the last bastion of the deep state that we will deal with after these elections."

He also said his opponents were anxious because they had no election platform and projects, offering demagogy and insults instead. "They know full well that the biggest obstacle to their insanity and concessions is me," Mickoski said.

"This is why they are frustrated and anxious and this is why their apologists, like some grandmas around a water pump, are calling for my liquidation yet the SDSM headquarters did not even find the strength to distance themselves from such calls, which clearly shows their motives.

"But at least the people see that their calls for murder, their bowing to Bulgaria and the thesis that the judiciary with 2% trust is professional is what this party's offer is in these elections, which is cataclysmic. So I am convinced that another new historic debacle awaits them on Oct. 19," Mickoski added. mr/