Skopje, 4 April 2024 (MIA) – A president, being the highest and most responsible post in the country, should be a person with experience in politics, a person with dignity that will not yield to pressure when the interests of the citizens might be under threat, GROM presidential candidate Stevcho Jakimovski says in an interview with MIA. 

In a message to the citizens, he says that as a candidate running for president, they can test him to see how he would react to pressure. He vows he will open important issues, he wouldn’t oppose the Government, stressing it wouldn’t mean that everything the government did was smart. He pledges he would champion changes in the selection of members of the Judicial Council, the Constitutional Court, ambassadors who are professionals; he would make efforts to renew ties with the diaspora. According to Jakimovski, the current geopolitical circumstances require accelerated accession of the whole region in the European Union. He reiterates his stance that the Constitution won’t be changed as to allow the Bulgarians to be included in it until all issues considering the country’s accession into the EU are closed. 

A circus and an attempt to help those promising changes to the Constitution by eliminating those hindering the process the most and those taking a hard line – this is how Jakimovski calls him being blacklisted by the US almost simultaneously with him unveiling his presidential candidacy. He compares himself with the Skopje-based football club Vardar.

“I’m just like Vardar, the football club that was once docked six points before the start of the next season. In any country, elections are supposed to be the most important thing. If there are fair and democratic elections according to all standards, then there’ll be a peaceful post-election period. It’s evident someone is making a circus and an attempt to help those promising things that are opposite from what they are saying now – which refers the most to the Bulgarian agreement and the change to the Constitution to include the Bulgarians in the Constitution and involving the claims that we are Macedonians from 1944, that our language is a Bulgarian dialect and that all revolutionaries are Bulgarians. In order this hard pill to be swallowed, those being in their way the most with their hardlines should be put out of the way. These are the demands of these people in order to be easier for them to make the treason after the elections.”

Jakimovski says he would advocate for decriminalization in urban planning – meaning corruption to be tackled with office holders not being required to sign any documents. The West is prohibiting even this, he claims, in order to have us under control and be able to active criminal changes anytime they want to, to compile these lists and to interfere in the election process. 

“They want us to do everything so they can have us under control. I’m a man that cannot be controlled and I’m not ready to give up on my dignity for anything in the world, including threats. This isn’t something random but a threat and an evident meddling into the election process. Why hasn’t this taken place three or six months ago? Would it have made any difference for them to have waited two months and to do this on May 9, but evidently they were driven by their motive to interfere in the election process in the Republic of Macedonia.”

According to Jakimovski, who is the party’s GROM presidential candidate, the whole Balkan region should join the EU as soon as possible considering “the serious challenges, the world being on the brink of world war three and Macedonia and the whole of Europe being thrown into a war.” 

“We believe that since we are in NATO everything is settled, but I’m quite serious in saying that not everything is settled. When ideas from the 19th and the 20th century are resurrected, we will need a person who is determined with strong character that might also be the supreme commander,” says Jakimovski. 

According to him, the whole of Europe has a serious problem, including the country’s strategic partner. As the world is losing its positioning, the other side is gaining strength. Amid such circumstances, he notes, Bulgaria is “fiddling while Rome burns.”

“When Europe and the strategic partner will no longer will be able, it means we have a serious problem. Also, we are literally in war with Russia, the relations with China are worsening. On the other hand, BRICS is strengthening with more countries joining. And Bulgaria is “fiddling while Rome burns.” In a difficult situation in which the whole of Europe might find itself, including the strategic partner, to them what matters most is history, are we Macedonians since 1944 or since we exist. What matters most to them is what our language is, and it seems we don’t want to focus on these matters that need closing, the whole of the Western Balkans to join the EU and to function as one in order to handle what is happening around the world.”

“Instead of closing these political problems to be able to implement a joint policy with which to boost the European economy and to tackle the challenges more easily, we’re eating ourselves inside due to the unreasonable Bulgarian policy and due to the unreasonable politicians who are putting this issue aside,” he noted.

The presidential candidate says that respectable lawyers, professors and seasoned judges should be members of the Republic’s Judicial Council. 

According to Jakimovski, the Constitutional Court must not serve the parties and it must be comprised of professionals who are not connected to any political party. “Their only professional interest should be the Constitution and nothing else,” he insists. 

Jakimovski stresses that funds for technical and technological readiness of the Army must be secured as well as funds for servicemen.

Asked what would set him apart from the previous presidents, he says he wouldn’t be an opponent of the Government, but he wouldn’t think everything the government did was smart either. In this respect, he mentions the construction of the highways by Bechtel and Enka, calling the project “classic corruption made legal by the Parliament.”

The president should open important issues, Jakimovski says noting there must not be political prisoners with the president being strongly against it. 

“As regards foreign policy, I think that only professionals should be appointed ambassadors and we have to renew our ties with the diaspora, which have been suspended. The diaspora shouldn’t be only viewed as means for attracting money in the country. It creates 20% of the GDP of the Republic of Macedonia with remittances in foreign currency sent to the country. It should be an unbreakable part of the Macedonian national tissue, we need to be in constant communication and see what needs to be done for them while they are there and what needs to be done when they are visiting the country in order to feel welcomed. And we also need to see what we can do if they are interested in investing here. All policies, be it good or bad, need to be explained at meetings with the diaspora. They are far away from the Republic of Macedonia, their perceptions might be wrong and they might have incomplete information. The diaspora should have complete information directly from the president of the state, from the prime minister, the foreign minister, the economy minister, our ambassadors and diplomatic offices.”

Asked about the second election round, Jakomovski said some of the candidates should have to consider whether to support him or the candidate who would be his opponent. 

”It has been proven that so far I have been most successful when being underestimated, for example in the elections taking place in 2009, 2013 and in 2021. History shows I’ve been supported in the first run, which is why I expect in the second run some of the candidates to consider supporting me or my opponent in the second round.”

Criticizing the election model, the financing and the media presentation, he says the candidates of the two largest political parties are favoured over others securing 90 percent of media promotion, while the others get only 10 percent.

His campaign will include meetings with citizens and small rallies, because, as he says, his campaign team lack resources to organize rallies every evening, which would cost 15,000-20,000 euros. His team will also use the social media to have direct contacts with the citizens. 

Jakimovski also shares his expectations of whether fair and democratic elections will be organized.

“Those making deals about the money and about the caretaker government are also working for their own benefit. And those from abroad that monitor the elections in the Republic of Macedonia only care about those who suit them the most to be elected by the citizens by casting ballots. But, my policy has always been created to suit the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. I have never betrayed them and they have never betrayed me.”

In case he is elected as president, Jakimovski says he would give the mandate to form a government to those pledging at a congress they wouldn’t change the Constitution to allow the Bulgarians to be included until all issues had been closed.

“It has to be complete package or the EU to open its doors for negotiations, while the issues to be left to the historians for discussions,” he says.

Asked what is necessary for the citizens to be motivated to vote in the elections amid the current circumstances, he says he expects the people to be wise like in the past during hard times. 

“There have always been hard times for the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, back in the 19th and the 20th century, in 1912, 1914, 1918, 1941 and 1945, in 1963 when we had been in ruins and in 1992 when we’d been at crossroads. But the people had always been wise and they will be wise again. You have a candidate for president who can be tested how he will react to pressure and the presidential post is a post where you are constantly under pressure. I’m confident that if you are voting for a president who is dignified and not yielding to pressure when the interests of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are under threat, then I’m the right choice.”

Asked about his expectations from the campaign, GROM presidential candidate Jakimovski said it'd started with the "black list", which he says showed how fair and dignified the campaign is. He noted that none of his opponents in the presidential race had defended him and condemned him being blacklisted. Had any other candidate been blacklisted, I'd personally condemned it.

Below is the interview with the presidential candidate Stevcho Jakimovski in full.

Lidija Velkovska

Translated by Bisera Altiparmakova - Marusic 

Photo: MIA

Video and editing: Andrej Brankovikj and Vladimir Rabasovikj