Zaev: Possible Cabinet Reshuffle after Poor Results in 1st Round of Election

After the conclusion and the poor results of the ruling alliance in the 1st round of the 2019 presidential election in Macedonia, the PM Zoran Zaev announced there is possibility of cabinet reshuffle. “I am open with you and I don’t want this to be interpreted as a simple threat. We have received our message on the first round. Many of our supporters who are unhappy with our officials, decided to stay home and not vote. This is the reason there will be major changes on a local and central level,” Zaev said. The Mayor of Skopje Petre Silegov also commented on the results. “We clearly understand the message the citizens addressed us. However, I think it is not right for Stevo Pendarovski to face the punishment for something we have done badly or have not done at all,” Silegov said. The presidential candidate of VMRO-DPMNE Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said that it never occurred in the history of electoral cycles in Europe for a party to lose over 40 % of the votes it won only two years ago. “This is a real political earthquake. Just look at the results of the 1st round of the presidential election; the citizens sent a clear message to the government run by Zaev that they’ve had enough with his rule and his counter-productive policies,” Siljanvska Davkova said, adding that she will negotiate with associations pledging for boycott of the election, as well as the former members of the “Colourful Revolution” in order to win their trust and support in the 2nd round of the presidential election.