Presidential candidates hold rallies in Kriva Palanka, Valandovo and Bitola

 VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova addressed late Monday a rally in Valandovo, highlighting the importance of justice and rule of law in the country.

“People are leaving the country. Unfortunately, the politics of the incumbent authorities leads to this. They have done nothing to keep people here but seem to chase them away. This must change,” said Siljanovska Davkova.

According to her, although PM Zaev signed the Prespa Agreement by saying it would enable the country’s EU and NATO accession, this is not the case.

“The European Commission will make up additional homework in order to prepare the start of the accession negotiations. The cause lies in the lack of meeting European standards,” added Siljanovska Davkova.

She urged for unity and mass turnout on April 21, for the purpose of restoring justice and rule of law in Macedonia.

Young people will keep leaving the country if we stay isolated. Only when we join NATO and the EU, the large European market, can they be competitive and prosperous, said SDSM’s presidential nominee Stevo Pendarovski.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Kriva Palanka, Pendarovski said no one votes anymore for politicians who hold speeches about history because people want to look ahead into the future.

“The new government over the last year and a half has made efforts to put an end to our dark transition period of 30 years, of which the darkest were the last ten, with people being considered either close to “the family” or lowest-rate citizens,” Pendarovski said.

“We’ve also made enormous progress in solving issues with our neighbors […], opened doors to NATO integration, which ensured the integrity of this piece of land, and we expect, two months from now, a date for starting EU negotiations, which will bring in significant funding for infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, anything that guarantees economic development.” After Kriva Palanka, Pendarovski is speaking at a rally in Kumanovo.

People are free, voting is secret and turnout is important, Alliance for Albanians/Besa presidential candidate Blerim Reka told a rally in Bitola on Monday.

Reka expressed optimism that the required turnout would be achieved, regardless of the election winner.

“It is important that the country wins and gets an EU accession talks date. It is important that citizens go out and vote, regardless of their favorite. My concept is a republic for all and the law above all. The country will lose if we fail to establish the rule of law. We cannot lose another 10 or 20 years, because people in towns and villages across the country speak of emigration, the large exodus of youth but also entire families. I believe that political and statehood reforms can help young people stay in Macedonia,” added Reka.

Alliance for Albanians leader Zijadin Sela urged Bitola citizens to support Reka, because the country is currently administering selective justice.

“If Reka is elected president, the country will function in a different way, through a system of checks and balances,” said Sela.

Besa leader Bilal Kasami said Reka is the most competent presidential candidate, who will best represent the country in EU and NATO.