Platform 12:05 rejects SDSM accusations, singles out Venko Filipche
Platform 12:05 says SDSM forced Jovica Radeski into a press conference and that Venko Filipche and party leaders should take responsibility.
Organizers of Platform 12:05 sharply rejected accusations by SDSM that they undermined the party’s mayoral candidate in Brvenica, saying the party leadership is trying to shift blame ahead of local contests.
In a written statement the group accused SDSM leadership of intolerance and singled out Venko Filipche by name. "The leadership of SDSM increasingly resembles a sect in which the key condition for belonging is the slogan – everyone else is guilty for the defeats, only Venko Filipche bears no responsibility for anything!" the organizers wrote.
Pressure on the local candidate
The Platform 12:05 members said SDSM forced the party’s Brvenica candidate, Jovica Radeski, into a press conference after the organizers publicly congratulated him on what they called a dignified showing in the election. "Today, they forced comrade Jovica Radeski to hold a press conference just because we congratulated him for his dignified performance in the elections. They demanded he prove his loyalty to them. We apologize for the fact that today he had to be publicly humiliated and privately apologize," the statement said.
They publicly challenged SDSM to name at least one person from "Conversations for the Future in 12:05" who allegedly campaigned against the party’s candidate in Brvenica.
The organizers — who identify as former SDSM officials — said Filipche’s accusations amount to a confession that he and his leadership should step down. "If the victories of SDSM candidates depend on 'Conversations for the Future in 12:05' then this disoriented party leadership itself admits it must go," they said.
In the statement they also accused Filipche of being an agent of a major political deal and of serving Hristijan Mickoski. "No forced press conference can cover the truth that Venko Filipche is the plenipotentiary for the dirtiest political deal in the last 35 years. The honest membership is increasingly ashamed that the current leadership serves Hristijan Mickoski," Platform 12:05 wrote.
Photo: press material from the event
