Skopje, 12 December 2021 (MIA) – Dimitar Kovachevski was elected as the new leader of SDSM at the intra-party elections held on Sunday, after winning a total of 37,649 votes. Kovachevski’s opponents Jovan Despotovski and Frosina Remenski won 3,319 and 2,836 votes respectively. 602 ballots were invalid. Kovachevski’s predecessor Zoran Zaev was elected as SDSM’s leader in 2013. Zaev announced in October that he was going to resign from both his party and PM post, following the party’s defat at local elections. On Nov. 26, SDSM’s central board approved his resignation. Previous SDSM leaders include Branko Crvenkovski, Vlado Buchkovski and Radmila Shekerinska. SDSM’s members voted in Sunday’s intra-party elections at 194 polling places nationwide, between 8 am and 7 pm. Dimitar Kovachevski was born 1974 in Kumanovo. He has a PhD in Economics and is an associate professor at the University American College – Skopje.