Skopje, 21 December 2023 (MIA) – President Stevo Pendarovski said Thursday his decision to run for reelection at the presidential elections in spring will depend on his personal rating and the rating of the political parties that would support him.

The President is expected to announce his decision at the end of January or beginning of February, likely before opposition party VMRO-DPMNE reveals its candidate at a party convention on March 2.

According to Pendarovski, party support is necessary because, he said, “an independent candidate has never won” in the history of the country, adding that it is “very difficult for a purely partisan candidate to win as well”.

“If there are potent political parties, of course not at the level of 2019 because that is impossible, but parties that would like to provide their support, and here a combination could be made between the civil Macedonia and the partisan Macedonia, I think the chances are serious… You can enter the second round, but in order to be a president, you need something outside the parties’ electorates, you need the citizens who aren’t affiliated with the political parties, who don’t vote at every election, so you need to motivate them to come out and vote for you. This is becoming increasingly difficult in our country because the people’s motivation has been declining for years, because every successive political establishment, unfortunately, fails to deliver on its promises,” said Pendarovski in an interview for TV Kanal 5.

Pendarovski said he hasn’t discussed the issue with the leader of SDSM, Dimitar Kovachevski, yet, but expects to do so after New Year’s. He said SDSM’s internal procedures are still at the beginning.

“Practically, they’ve only announced the deadlines for that procedure. There’s still no timeframe for party members to submit their candidates, as well as those who aren’t members of the party, of course. I think this will certainly begin in a month and a half from now,” said Pendarovski.

Asked if he is ready for a potential repeat duel with Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, as in the elections five years ago, the President said “it is completely irrelevant who is on the other side, if the combination of my personal rating and the rating of the party that stands behind me is right”.

In terms of the caretaker government ahead of the parliamentary elections, Pendarovski said there is nothing controversial in handing the mandate to Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi since the decision is a result of an interparty agreement between the ruling parties and the opposition.

Photo: MIA Archive