Zaev: We Have Nothing Against Local Elections on 17 October

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev says that SDSM agrees that the date of the local elections should be 17 October, as requested by the opposition, if all parties agree on that. The proposal to hold the elections on 31 October, Zaev said, was given only because of the coincidence of the terms for the campaign with the date for holding the population census. “It is very important for me what the opposition will say. They should be satisfied with the election date. If they are held on 17 October, the campaign coincides with the census, and that is not good, we should push the census by the end of September, after which the campaign can start. But if the opposition says the 17^th and all other parties agree on that, then we agree as well,” said Zaev.