Skopje, 8 October 2025 (MIA) — At a campaign rally in Shuto Orizari ahead of the Oct. 19 local elections, VMRO-DPMNE president Hristijan Mickoski said his government would work hard to make Shuto Orizari a decent place to live.

"I am very glad to be here, in Shuto Orizari – a place with many problems, but with a big heart and soul," Mickoski said.

He said the municipality had long been marginalized, despite being "only a few kilometers from the city center, but with substandard conditions."

"The fact that politicians used to come here only before elections, to make promises without fullfiling any of them, only shows how much they underestimated the people of Shutka. This cannot happen again, and you know very well the people who saw Shuto Orizari only as voting machinery. I am looking you in the eye as I stand before you and I say to you that Shuto Orizari has to be better, make big steps and solve big problems," Mickoski said.

"I will not promise unprincipled things or things I cannot fulfill. But I promise you jobs and solutions to the problems you face every day. I deeply respect you and see you as my neighbors, friends and honest people," he added.

Mickoski promised that his government would build an outpatient clinic in Shuto Orizari and urged residents to vote for VMRO-DPMNE's mayoral candidate Erhan Demir.

"Erhan is our choice, the right choice for the development of Shuto Orizari. By choosing Erhan, you are voting for an excellent tandem. Erhan will work together with Orce Gjorgjievski, our candidate for mayor of Skopje," Mickoski said, adding that Demir and Gjorgjievski would "cooperate excellently, and the government will also work hard to make Shuto Orizari a decent place to live."

VMRO-DPMNE's mayoral candidate for Shuto Orizari spoke about planned municipal projects.

"Others said they would make Shuto Orizari 'Little Paris,' but they didn't even lift a finger," Demir said.

"They planted a palm tree here and thought they had turned this municipality into Dubai. We are different in that we will do what we say we will," he said. mr/