Skopje, 29 June 2024 (MIA) - SDSM members are set to elect the party’s new leader in a vote on Sunday. Four candidates are in the running for the post. The vote will be held in 77 polling stations, with around 23.000 party members registered to vote.

Former Health Minister and current MP Venko Filipche, the head of the Free Zones Authority Jovan Despotovski, former Defense Minister and current MP Slavjanka Petrovska, as well as former Deputy Minister of Information Society and Administration Aleksandar Bajdevski are the four names on the ballot in the leadership vote. All four have vowed to reform the party and unite its membership.

On Friday, 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.

In a statement for the media Petrovska also said she had received reports that in certain municipal organizations a certain number of voters appeared who didn’t ask to be registered, in other words, she said, someone used the tools to register in their name.

The head of the party’s Central Election Commission, Viktorija Avramovska-Madikj, said the Commission worked hard to carry out a transparent and democratic process, which is why Sunday’s vote will be held.  

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

Voting will begin at 8 am on Sunday and last until 8 pm. 

Photo: MIA Archive