Skopje, 4 April 2024 (MIA) – I expect in the first round, the votes to disperse into several directions and I don’t expect any of the candidates have any chance to win in the first round, but I expect to make it into the second round and to ultimately win the elections, said Stevo Pendarovski, the incumbent president and the presidential candidate of the SDSM-led coalition for the coming elections. 

Seven candidates will vie in the coming elections, the most candidates in Macedonian history, Pendarovski said Thursday at the opening of the central campaign headquarters in Skopje, mentioning that six candidates run for president in the 1999 elections. 

Speaking to reporters, he said that today’s campaign agenda includes visits to several municipalities in the fourth election district and a rally in Prilep later in the day. 

His campaign trail until the end of the first round includes visits to 65 settlements in all municipalities in the country. 

“We expect to meet thousands of citizens in order to present them my offer for the next five years, Pendarovski announced.

Some might say, he noted, that I don’t need to present my program too much because I’m ending my five-year mandate and the Macedonian citizens know very well what I’ve been championing, what I’ve been against, what I’ve been supporting. 

“But, I think the context in the past five years has changed a bit, both the regional and the domestic context as well as the international one with the war in Ukraine, and I need to present my new stances on some matters with specific political dynamic,” the presidential candidate said. 

Photo: MIA