Bučkovski: Brvenica result signals gains for DUI and declining support for VLEN

Former Prime Minister Vlado Bučkovski sees DUI’s victory in the Municipality of Brvenica as a sign of declining Albanian support for VLEN. Following the result, VMRO-DPMNE described VLEN as a “Trojan horse”.

In a statement to “360 Degrees”, he attributed the turnaround in Brvenica to the mobilisation of Albanians along ethnic lines and votes from the diaspora. Bučkovski also believes VMRO-DPMNE will find it difficult to regain the support the previous mayor enjoyed among Macedonians and Albanians.

Asked whether the result in a single municipality such as Brvenica was enough to draw broader conclusions, the former prime minister predicted a widening gap between DUI and VLEN. In his view, the trend points to gains for DUI and a further decline for VLEN, while VMRO-DPMNE will be left with two coalition partners, VLEN and ZNAM, whose support in opinion polls will be within the statistical margin of error.

In Bučkovski’s view, this loss of support is precisely why early parliamentary elections would not be in VLEN’s interests.

But he warned that serving out the coalition’s full term also carries risks for the smaller partners. Bučkovski believes that, by the next regularly scheduled elections, VMRO-DPMNE could erode their support in opinion polls so severely that their ability to secure parliamentary seats would be called into question.