Skopje, 21 September 2023 (MIA) - VMRO-DPMNE is led by the leadership, together with the structures within the party, members and activists. VMRO-DPMNE is a party for the people, it bears its legitimacy from and for them, and in a few months from today we will form a new government, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said on Thursday during a visit to Novaci Municipality.

In response to a reporter’s question of who has been in charge of VMRO-DPMNE for so many years, he responded that it is a fake campaign led by SDSM for over half a decade.

"That is a fake campaign led for almost half a decade by the masters of fake news- SDSM, and now since it fall apart they are unable to deal with it. I guess now they will have to think of something new, but the only thing I can do is hope that they learn something from their wrong policies, that they restructure when they become the opposition, that the true patriots in SDSM come to their right places and fight for Macedonia again, because SDSM is a pivotal political party, at least they were in the 90s, although they lost the right to call themselves that," Mickoski explained.

As for whether the amendments to the Criminal Code could be a ticket to constitutional amendments, he said that he neither had, nor will have, secret meetings in order to reach an agreement on something that could harm the country, as opposed to someone in the past who did such things.

"While I am president of VMRO-DPMNE, I will never have any secret meetings and negotiations about something that could harm the Macedonian identity, citizens and country. All that we ask as a political party is already stated publicly, loud and clear," Mickoski added.

On a journalists' statement that Gruevski is lobbying to secure MPs for the constitutional changes, he dismissed the issue, adding that he can only talk about himself.

"I can only talk about myself, about the party's positions, which you are already familiar with. If you ask me about what is circulating in the public, between Ali Ahmeti- parts of the SDSM structure and Nikola Gruevski and them securing MPs, I absolutely condemn it, reject it and am appalled by it," Mickoski stressed.

According to him, VMRO-DPMNE has never been more cohesive.

"After everything that has been happening, I have to admit that the number of fellow citizens who are starting to join VMRO-DPMNE across Macedonia within the past two days, has exceeded my expectations," the VMRO-DPMNE leader said while expressing his conviction that in the next election they will have 61 MPs.

On the question on what if VMRO-DPMNE MPs vote for constitutional amendments, he emphasized his conviction that they know what they have to do and that no one of them will vote for the amendments.

"No one will vote. Not now, not ever. If the conditions remain unchanged, we already stated out expectations, there will be no voting in the future," noted Mickoski.

"We have a clear plan that we will announce publicly today," Mickoski said, and demanded that the Parliament be dissolved and elections be held.

If he becomes president of the next Government, he emphasized that he is prepared to see what can be changed. ssh/sk/