http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...ion-11-28-2018

Macedonia Opposition Marchers Denounce Zaev Govt

Thousands of people joined Wednesday’s anti-government march in the capital, organized by the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party, demanding the government's resignation.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic BIRN Skopje

In what was seen as a bid by the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party to flex its muscles following a period of turbulence within its own ranks, thousands of people marched in the streets of Skopje to demonstrate their discontent with the Social Democrat-led government.

“Here we are, we came out because of the national humiliation, the economic defeats and because we are unhappy as Macedonia gets poorer. We will unite and we will defeat this incompetent and criminal government,” opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski told the gathering.

“Elections will come. The presidential [elections in spring next year] are near. Let our presidential candidate win by a landslide,” he said. “That will be the first step at freeing our fatherland from the clutches and the chains.”

The march started at 5pm in front of the VMRO DPMNE party's headquarters and ended in front of the government HQ. Protesters shouted for the government to resign and booed Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

The march was the first in a series of anti-government protests aimed at toppling Zoran Zaev's government, which the opposition says has brought only "darkness" and "poverty" to the country.

The party plans to hold similar rallies in central Skopje every Wednesday and said that it said it will organise protests in other towns during weekends.

Besides the social note of the announced protests, the date of the first protest march has an added symbolic meaning.

Precisely one year ago, the authorities arrested over 30 VMRO DPMNE MPs and party supporters for their involvement in the bloody rampage in parliament on April 27, 2017.

The party was ousted from power that May, weeks after its members and sympathizers had stormed the parliament in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the new majority from electing a new speaker and then forming a new government under Zaev.

Various former officials, including ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who has since escaped to Hungary, have been convicted of, or are standing trial for, corruption.

However, the new party leadership has never openly distanced itself from these deeds, insisting that the party has become a target for government-led political persecution.

VMRO DPMNE last held a big rally in front of the government building in June, which many saw as little more than a promotional opportunity for the new leader, Hristijan Mickoski.

Much has changed since then, however, both in the country and inside the opposition party.

Later that month, Macedonia signed a historic agreement with Greece aimed at resolving the long dispute over its name.

If it is implemented, it will unlock the country’s stalled EU and NATO accession processes, which Greece until now has blocked.

The West had repeatedly urged the opposition party to either endorse the deal with Greece, or not block its implementation.

After this did not happen, the party faced sharp criticism from its international partners.

In October, meanwhile, seven VMRO DPMNE MPs were excluded from the party for supporting the start of the constitutional changes that form part of the name deal, defying the leadership’s instructions not to do so.

This has widened a split within the already weakened party.

Judging by the latest opinion polls, the party’s positioning and internal struggles have had a negative impact on its popularity ratings.

A polls carried out by M Prospect agency, published last Wednesday on Telma TV, show the Social Democrats leading in the polls with the support of 26.8 per cent of voters, while the opposition VMRO DPMNE trailed behind on 21.1 per cent.