In diplomatic circles, November and March have been mentioned as possible times when elections might take place. Even though a more plausible option is for parliamentary elections to happen along with local elections, which might happen in late fall.
But, unlike the previous two times when elections were postponed, this time SDSM leader will be asked to give firm guarantees. Zaev first demanded that April 24 elections be postponed, and then June 5 elections.
More specifically, it will be requested that Zaev come out and publicaly state that the Electoral Roll is purged and that SDSM will take part in elections.
For now, there is no guarantee that Zaev will not run away from elections again because he only speaks of becoming part of the Government. In regards to this issue the stance of VMRO-DPMNE leader is clear-SDSM will be allowed to be a part of the Government as is stipulated in the Przino Agreement.
"Before the upcoming elections, we will act according to the laws and the June/July Agreement from 2015. A 100 days before elections we will allow them all privileges stipulated in the agreement", Gruevski said in the mega-interview for Telegraph.mk.
According to experts, Zaev still cannot make up his mind on when elections should happen because he is aware that polls show that VMRO-DPMNE is in the lead to win. SDSM leader is waiting on instructions from several ambassadors which are currently playing the role of opposition in Macedonia.
A more likely option is for the parliamentary elections to happen along with local elections since boycotting them would not be good for Zaev as SDSM might lose the few mayors it has. On the other hand, Zaev will not be able to sell the story that the electoral roll for local elections is good, but it is not good for the parliamentary ones.
Oliver Andonov from GROM points out that SDSM's behavior is unclear and that its intention with the protests was to boost morale in its membership and to better its position in negotiations.
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It is obvious that SDSM does not know what to do next. SDSM's only intention is to become part of the Government without elections. It is obvious that SDSM is relying on the international factor and that it does what it is told. It does not matter how long they postpone elections, I think that they will happen along with the local elections. Until then this agony will continue, Andonov said.
Professor Lazar Lazarov also deems that elections are not likely to happen this year.
"The right atmosphere for holding elections needs to be created first so that the date can be set. I think elections will be held next year", Lazarov said.