Skopje, 30 June 2024 (MIA) - SDSM members are set to elect the party’s new leader in a vote on Sunday. Voting will take place in 77 polling stations nationwide, with around 23.000 party members registered to vote.

Three candidates remain in the race for SDSM leader – former Health Minister and current MP Venko Filipche, the head of the Free Zones Authority Jovan Despotovski, as well as the former Deputy Minister of Information Society and Administration, Aleksandar Bajdevski – after former Defense Minister and current MP Slavjanka Petrovska withdrew her candidacy on Saturday, a day ahead of the elections

In an official letter to the party’s Central Election Commission, Petrovska said she wants to protect SDSM from an illegitimate leadership election and asked that her name isn’t on the ballot. Petrovska accused of an unfair election process, stating that one of the candidates had access to the party’s database and abused the personal data of the party’s membership. She said she wouldn’t vote in Sunday’s leadership elections and urged the other candidates to drop out of the race.

Ahead of the elections, all four candidates led a campaign vowing to reform the party and unite its membership.

The electoral roll for the vote that will be held in 77 polling stations nationwide consists of 23.373 members of the party.

Previously the party was led by Branko Crvenkovski, Vlado Buchkovski, Radmila Shekjerinska, Zoran Zaev, and Dimitar Kovachevski. 

Photo: SDSM