The "12:05" Initiative expands its field mobilization: meetings in Tetovo, Kumanovo and Gjorce Petrov

Some of the former SDSM officials organized within the Initiative "12:05" platform held public meetings in several municipalities during this month, where, they say, they spoke about the party's situation and the possibility of winning over the so-called independent campus.

At the gatherings, which the initiative published with photographs on social networks, Igor Ivanovski, Andrej Petrov, Emilijan Stankovic and Nikola Churkchiev appeared and met local hosts in Tetovo, Kumanovo and Gjorce Petrov.

Who attended

In Tetovo they were welcomed by former MP Stojko Paunovski; the photos also show current SDSM MP Slavjanka Petrovska and Ema Neshkovska. In Kumanovo among those present was the independent mayoral candidate who entered the second round with Maksim Dimitrievski, against the SDSM candidate Martin Kostovski — Goran Stojkovski – Diro, and the current mayor of Kriva Palanka, Sashko Mitovski, also appeared. In Gjorce Petrov the host was Kostadin Acevski, the SDSM candidate in the local elections who resigned from his party position after his defeat and demanded the resignation of the main opposition figure Venko Filipche; Aleksandar Bajdevski and Nase Nasev were also at the meeting.

Platform members say the purpose of the meetings is to discuss the situation within SDSM, to address the opposition's strategy — which at the moment, according to them, is not a real competitor to VMRO‑DPMNE and Hristijan Mickoski — and to open a debate with the independent campus in order to create a broader opposition unification that would have the strength to defeat the ruling coalition.

The platform also issued a message stating: "We are very concerned about these conditions and we are trying to obtain a quality contribution from different social structures that express readiness to jointly lay the foundations for a new opposition unification that will have the strength to defeat the ruling coalition of VMRO‑DPMNE. We understand the nervousness in SDSM leadership, but we are not to blame that their sole interest is to keep their armchairs in 'Bihacka', regardless of the fact that the party is at an existential minimum. Public moralizing now is a cheap attempt to create false victims."

SDSM, for its part, officially stated: "Everything we had to say about the ZNAM 2.0 platform we have said. We will not comment on Hristijan Mickoski's projects."

The conflict between the platform and parts of the party also concerns the form of the meetings — several SDSM members criticized them as unserious because they are held in cafes and hotels, instead of in party premises. The Initiative replied that the municipal organizations, as they claim, are practically non-existent and that local members have not been contacted for months.

As both sides announced, intensified field activities are planned from September. The platform also announced a new session of the "Conversations for the Future" forums within the Initiative "12:05".

Photo: press material from the event