Skopje, 9 October 2023 (MIA) — Hristo Petreski has submitted his irrevocable resignation from the post of Macedonian Writers Association president citing health reasons, after all but one members of the MWA's management board resigned from their posts last week.

In a press release sent on Monday morning, Petreski thanked the writers who had elected him MWA president in 2022.

"I believe we have achieved a lot in managing the MWA in recent years," he wrote, "although a lot remains to be done. However, for health reasons, I am now publicly informing you that I am resigning irrevocably from the post of Macedonian Writers Association president and I wish my successor good luck, health and success," Petreski wrote.

His resignation comes after the entire management board except for one member, Vasil Tocinovski, resigned last week amid reported accusations of misconduct.

Zoran Anchevski, Vesna Mojsova-Chepishevska, Liljana Pandeva, Vladimir Martinovski, Slavcho Kovilovski, Marina Mijakovska and Aleksandra Jurukovska submitted their resignations on Wednesday and issued a joint statemement Friday thanking the MWA membership for voting for them in 2022.

The ninth member of the board, Branko Cvetkoski, in a separate press release on Friday said he had also submitted his irrevocable resignation from the MWA managing board. He said his resignation was due to Petreski's "violations of the association's statute" and "privatizing and manipulating the management board's teamwork and collective decision-making capacity."

The current MWA president's actions had tarnished the reputation of the MWA and threatened "writers' dignity in the national cultural context," Cvetkoski said.

Before resigning from the post, Petreski denied the allegations. mr/