What is happening [within SDSM] is nothing new in politics; SDSM suffered a serious defeat in the local elections, garnering only 124,000 votes, noted former SDSM leader and former Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski during an interview with the national broadcaster MRT.
Kovachevski declined to answer the host’s question regarding whether he sided with Filipche, despite having previously stated that the emergence of the 12:05 Platform was, in his view, entirely justified.
“First and foremost, I’m social democrat, and I support every social democrat. Igor Ivanovski joined SDSM the same year I did, in 1994, and Slavjanka [Petrovska] served as a minister in my government. There are numerous other people there who have been part of SDSM. You have never heard, and will not hear, me make negative personal remarks about anyone; while I might praise someone, as I have done for many ministers in the government, you will not hear me speak in a negative context, because in a democratic society, every individual has the right to conduct themselves as they see fit,” Kovachevski pointed out.
Regarding the possibility of Filipche asking for advice, whether on where he might be going wrong or concerning the internal turmoil and the platform, Kovachevski noted that he was not Filipche’s advisor, nor had his opinion been sought thus far.