With elections announced, all dilemmas have been resolved and there is no doubt that the citizens will vote on June 5. This is an expected decision, taking into consideration that there was no pressure from the international community this time unlike for the first election postponement.
The behavior of SDSM leader Zoran Zaev is symptomatic. Even though he demanded a postponement, he still decided not to participate. That, according to experts, clearly shows that SDSM are afraid to go to elections and face bad ratings.
It is now becoming clear that VMRO-DPMNE president, Nikola Gruevski, spoke the truth, a day after the postponement of April 24 elections, when he said that this is the first and last election postponement and that there will be no further assessments on whether the country is ready for elections and no further conditions, as well as a new media law.
Professor Oliver Andonov says that you can never be too sure with Zaev, that he cannot be trusted, and that the people should not be too surprised if he tries to pull off all sorts of things, even retract his members from the State Election Commission.
"But even if he does, SEC can function normally and bring decisions. They can be replaced by the Commission deputies. There is also a possibility for Parliament to vote on new SEC members from other parties. Election boycott will be damaging to SDSM because after 25 years of independence Macedonia is a solid state.", the professor informed.
He added that it was apparent that Zaev and Vanhoutte did not favor a proper media law, because if they did they would have demanded for the portals to be included in it so that everyone under their control would not be able to publish lies.
"How can Zaev talk about separating the state from the party when his ministers are using state resources to achieve party goals. It has become apparent that Zaev's goal is to rule the country. He still is a local politician and he might reach a decision for boycotting elections. It is SDSM's choice whether they will participate in elections, but to go against the state is high-treason", Andonov added.
That Zaev is shifty became clear after his address on Wednesday when he was answering questions and never excluded the possibility that SDSM might participate in elections if their conditions are met.
"I will consult with the SEC members, my close party associates and the foreign ambassadors. If I get guarantees, then I will consult on SDSM's next decision.", Zaev said.
After the dissolution of Parliament, it is expected of Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski to officially announce June 5 elections. He can do this by April 15 so that SEC can have time to inspect and purge the Electoral Roll, which is a demand of SDSM.