Skopje, 27 August 2021 (MIA) – The leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, Alliance for Albanians and Alternativa, Hristijan Mickoski, Zijadin Sela and Afrim Gashi reached an agreement on Friday for their parties to cooperate at upcoming local elections, set to take place in October. Partnership details are set to be discussed by the parties’ municipal organizations. “Party leaders discussed at the meeting on Friday the upcoming local elections and possible cooperation motivated by fight against the crime and corruption of municipal representatives from SDSM and DUI. The three leaders concluded that due to the country’s record-low ranking in Transparency International’s latest report, their cooperation is crucial, to rid local self-government units of corruption, untransparent spending and abuse of power by SDSM and DUI at all levels,” the parties said in a joint press release. The three party leaders underlined the need for cooperation in order to put institutions in the service of citizens, ensure balanced local economic development and budget support for decentralization in the sectors of education, culture and sport, as well as establishment of green municipalities, ensuring clean air and environmental protection. “In order to better articulate the voice of the opposition and represent citizens’ interests at local level, the three party presidents decided to cooperate and support each other’s candidates running for mayors. Cooperation entails that parties will not put forward candidates in certain municipalities and will support each other. Partnership details will be agreed upon by their municipal organizations,” read the joint release.