At a press conference today, presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski said that the direction in which the state will go depends on the outcome of the elections.
“We can very easily fall back into crisis, isolation and see everything we have achieved disappear. That is what my political opponents stand for! Gruevski’s regime can very easily be resurrected, as it still lives on in the party – through Mickoski!. I also want to directly address those citizens who voted for Mr. Blerim Reka. I look forward to your support in the second round and I urge you all to go to the polls. I know that you too support my vision of a European and integrated Macedonia, despite the revision of everything we have achieved and the blockades announced by Siljanovska. I urge you to vote according to your conviction and what you believe is right”, said Pendarovski.
He added that the political decisions they had taken since 2016 had already affected the election result.
“I’m not surprised that the polls that were conducted in the past period showed these sort of tendencies,” emphasized Pendarovski, adding that the results, as he said, were made by difficult decisions and compromises, such as the agreements with Greece and Bulgaria and the Law on Languages.
He also said he understands the citizens who made the decision not to go to the polls and therefore sends this message.
“I believe that the politicians got the message”, added Pendarovski.
He appealed for maximum voter turnout on May 5th and support for the concept of leading the country forward, and as he says, “to avoid new divisions, new blockades or delays on the road to the EU”.
According to the State Electoral Commission, Pendarovski won 323,846 votes or 42.85 percent of the total number of votes, compared to 319,240 votes or 42.24 percent of votes cast for VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
