VMRO-DPMNE will make changes to get to power

About 380,000 votes, as Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova won in the presidential elections, were rated as an excellent result in the VMRO-DPMNE, but they are insufficient to win the presidential race for the Vodno villa, much less for the government building on Ilinden Street. Riding the wave of dissatisfaction with the name agreement and the government’s work will not in itself mean coming to power. The party’s solid voting body remains loyal, but the votes of the undecided will be won only with a recognizable idea and program, distancing from the policies of Nikola Gruevski, policies in which the resolution of the economic problems will come first. In addition to strengthening the democratic capacity, the party should work to restore confidence among Albanian voters, because it is clear that even if there are general elections tomorrow and it wins, VMRO-DPMNE will hardly succeed in persuading any of the Albanian parties to form a coalition with the it.

Statute first, then program

“As soon as Monday or Tuesday we will have a session of the Executive and the Central Committee, on which we will talk about the election results. The fact is that we won the most votes compared to the other parties, because SDSM and DUI competed together, but we are aware of all the weaknesses, and in the coming period we will try to eliminate them,” main opposition party said.
The opposition’s estimates inside the party is that Professor Siljanovska, with all her knowledge, image and experience, helped VMRO-DPMNE have a better outcome than it would have had if, instead of voting for president, the citizens voted for mayors or for government.
“If we want to change something, and thus get out of the state of absolute opposition, we should start first by changing ourselves. Here, above all, I mean a change in the everyday political narrative and rhetoric of the party, which should be distanced from the past and focus on the future and emerging circumstances. Rhetoric without hatred, without intra-party and social divisions, without labeling, without exaggerated nationalism with chauvinism. It is high time for VMRO-DPMNE to turn to its own statute, in which the ideology of modern people’s parties is unequivocally outlined, which is fundamentally opposite to the philosophy of populism. The modern people’s parties are committed to real democracy in society. For modern people’s parties, a political rival is not an anti-state element nor an element that needs to be destroyed and never be congratulated for any political victory. For modern people’s parties it is quite common and healthy to have different opinions and policies in one society and on the most sensitive topics. Modern people’s parties believe in the institutions of their own country,“ said Kostadin Bogdanov, who was dismissed last year from the VMRO-DPMNE EC.
The new statute was put on hold due to the presidential elections, but will soon be ready, responded representatives from the so-called “White Palace”. The party plans several changes: a Municipal Committee Assembly will be introduced, through which candidates for mayors and councilors will be elected, each party official can be elected twice, as for a third term the official will have to receive at least two-thirds of the vote limits the state function with membership in the management and supervisory boards, but will also be sanctioned by all who will publicly act with the opposite standpoint of the agreed one within the party.

If there is no date, snap elections or protest

A party program is being prepared during which, as the party says, solutions to the accumulated problems in the economy, healthcare, agriculture, education, etc. will be offered
“It depends on the government when we will publish the program, that is, it depends on when new elections will be scheduled. The program is limited by deadlines, within which the promised needs to be done. Next month, we will start to press harder for snap elections. Sunday’s election results are delegitimation of the government, and this will only be confirmed in June when we will not get a date for accession negotiations with the European Union. Since we have a government that does not deliver results, we will immediately demand scheduling of snap elections. If the government refuses to do so, we will force it through protests,” party sources told Nezavisen.
One of the most difficult tasks for the new leadership of the party is the rapprochement to the Albanian areas that was seriously shattered with Gruevski’s policies from which the current opposition does not want to distance itself. VMRO-DPMNE says that Hristijan Mickoski and his team never said a single negative word against Albanians at any moment, but that the bad rating is the image that the party has in the Albanian voting body.
“It wouldn’t seem right if we ran after Albanian votes like SDSM, because we saw that it did not work for them either. They should vote for those they think they should vote, but not against us. We will strengthen our presence in Albanian communities and media, we will let them know who we are and what we are, and how we will help them have better lives. We will no longer allow ourselves to be demonized among the Albanians. Next time Ali Ahmeti says, as he, for instance, said Thursday before the elections that Albanians should vote for Stevo Pendarovski because VMRO-DPMNE is against the EU and NATO, we certainly will not stay silent. These are mistakes that we will try to fix in the future,” claims VMRO-DPMNE.
Bogdanov tells his party members that naked populism in the “name of the people” is predestined to guarantee the role of the opposition, especially in these newly emerging circumstances, that is, a new reality, which the party refuses to accept.
“There is enough time to roll up their sleeves for the next election cycle, to visit municipal and local committees in the most rural areas, in order to ensure that the membership is fed with the actual information and political values inherent in civilized democracies, even at the cost of some of them could fail to find themselves beyond the extreme narratives. Only in this way, VMRO-DPMNE will very soon regain its honor and responsibility to lead the country, thereby integrating these modern values into the entire social system for the prosperity and well-being of every individual in it,” said “reformist” Kostadin Bogdanov.

Markovska: VMRO-DPMNE will neither change its statute nor rhetoric

Former VMRO-DPMNE MP Gjulistana Markovska doubts that VMRO-DPMNE will change its approach, statute or rhetoric.
“For it to start resembling a modern party, VMRO-DPMNE must first change the statute and all the processes to start from the local committees. Now everything comes from top, it suits Mickoski and therefore does not change anything. I do not believe that they will change the attitude towards the Albanian voters. I am confident that Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE are following the logic “let’s just win the elections”, that is, to win the majority of seats in general elections, and then the Albanian party that will have the largest number of votes of Albanians, will of course form a coalition on the principle of coalition between winners. Leader Mickoski is now satisfied with the result achieved by Siljanovska and feels comfortable. It could be seen between the first and second rounds when he practically distanced himself from the campaign, leaving the candidate to fight on her own. It was obvious that Siljanovska was not prepared for this, so she often reconsidered her positions. It was not so important to Mickoski, because the number of won votes confirmed him as a leader. It was important for him to win over 220-250,000 votes, as many members VMRO-DPMNE has, and everything above that is a bonus, even though the votes of the undecided or other parties and ethnic communities have entered the balance,” Markovska stated for Nezavisen Vesnik/Independent daily newspaper.

Goran Adamovski