The central committee of SDSM decided at a meeting Thursday that the party should hold a congress on 3 July at which confidence will be voted in the party bodies, said Jani Makraduli, member of the opposition party’s central committee.

“The atmosphere at the meeting confirmed the conclusion that SDSM succeeded in winning support from 370,000 citizens, increasing its backing by some 150,000 votes, or 65 percent,” Makraduli said after the meeting.

In his view, there is a general belief that the chairman of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, not only in the party but also within the opposition front, should stay at the wheel of the struggle against the government. High-ranking party sources told A1 that Crvenkovski suggested that he should resign at the coordination meetings with the presidency and the executive committee but both party bodies unanimously rejected his resignation, explaining that the party needed him. Resigning would do a favor to VMRO-DPMNE, who saw in these elections that Crvenkovski is not an easy rival as they thought. His election to the chairman’s position, they further add, restored SDSM’s unity, which is a condition for a serious competition.

SDSM is not considering for now the possibility of forming a government following the speculations of difficulties in the talks between VMRO-DPMNE and BDI.