Skopje, 2 April 2025 (MIA) - SDSM leader Venko Filipche said Wednesday he would put forward a concept for a new societal and political dialogue after the Kochani tragedy and seek to meet with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in the coming days.

Filipche said the areas that require systemic approach are education, healthcare, judiciary, environment, and partisan politics.

"After the devastating tragedy in Kochani, we have seen the citizens' response - revolt and anger. This is entirely justified, because reforms and transition over the past thirty years have not produced the desired effects. The system is dysfunctional in many areas. Public services do not perform to the people's needs and all political parties should take the blame for this," Filipche told a press conference.

The SDSM leader said a strategy must be drafted, involving all stakeholders, based on which the country will operate in the coming decades, irrespective of any government, party or coalition in power.

"We have no more children to lose. We must strengthen the education system. We have tried, VMRO-DPMNE as well, but the desired results are not there. The same goes for healthcare. These two sectors must be set aside from daily politics and should truly be the country's strategic interest," said Filipche.

On judiciary, he said it is an imperative to adopt the reform agenda as soon as possible, through a broad consensus among political parties but also other stakeholders in the field.

"What citizens are most irritated about is partisan politics. We must free institutions from the claws of politics and parties so that young people enjoy a real merit-based system, in which they would make progress. This is the only way to elevate expertise to the proper level," said Filipche.

He added that the plan would be presented in detail to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in the coming days.

"I hope that other parties would join because it is high time that things change. We saw how the Kochani tragedy brought a lot of systemic shortcomings to the surface, and therefore we should sit down and work together for the well-being of the country," said Filipche.

He expects all parties to accept the proposal for a leaders' meeting.

"Nevertheless, it is good if we talked to the PM first, considering that he was the first to say that such a meeting is acceptable. I really don't know why would anyone not want to talk about these issues, which are clearly perceived by all citizens," said Filipche.

According to him, a big challenge for the country is how to truly implement things that are being discussed.

"We should learn a lesson from each and every crisis we have been through, we must implement this lesson and make sure it is fully implemented. This is not easy. I have a few ideas - whether through a parliamentary committee or a joint working group with experts. I would not want for it to look like a ready-made plan because I would like for everyone to take part in its drafting," noted Filipche.

Regarding the country's Euro-integration and constitutional amendments, the SDSM leader said these topics would "most probably be also discussed at the meeting".

Photo: MIA