Skopje, 28 March 2024 (MIA) - The election campaign headquarters of the presidential candidates in the country have reached an agreement in principle, to hold a leaders' debate on neutral ground, with neutral moderators, following an invitation by incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, who is running for a second term in office in the April 24 presidential election. 

Pendarovski's campaign headquarters told a press briefing on Thursday that all the campaign headquarters have given agreed to the idea in principle, but some technical details are still to be aligned. It has also been confirmed that there will be no exclusion of candidates from the debate, despite requests from some candidates to exclude some of the opponents.

The debate will be organized by each candidate's election headquarters. In addition, a meeting will be held with the media, in order to find a solution for the way in which the idea will be realized. Each candidate will have the opportunity to bring their own audience, and the media will be able to broadcast live.

Incumbent President Pendarovski who is running for a second term in office will launch his campaign on April 4, with the opening of the election campaign headquarters in downtown Skopje, and his convention will be held on April 2 in the Boris Trajkovski Arena. 

President Pendarovski will also host an Iftar dinner at the Skopje-based MPs Club on Thursday, to which all presidential candidates and Islamic Religious Community (IRC) representatives are invited. Pendarovski's team said an Easter dinner will also be organized. 

Previously, Pendarovski's campaign headquarters said he has invited his six opponents to two leaders' debates, one at the beginning and one at the end of the election campaign, which starts on April 4th. 

Pendarovski's campaign will include numerous rallies and meetings with members of the public. Events will be bilingual – in Macedonian and Albanian – and translated into sign language.