Macedonia Opposition PM Candidate Reports Attack

On their way back to Skopje, the car carrying Shekerinska reportedly came under attack by an unidentified vehicle with tinted windows that tried to push them off the road.

Shekerinska survived unharmed.

“It all happened really fast,” Shekerisnska told reporters on Thursday morning, maintaining that the incident seemed like a “deliberate attack”. The party reported the incident to the police.

The incident happened when the alleged attacker’s car started following Shekerinska’s car on the way back from Prilep. Her car was not escorted by security during the incident.

According to Shekerinska, in the vicinity of Rosoman village, the driver of the PM candidate’s car slowed down, thinking that the other vehicle would just overtake them.

“But they started driving parallel with us and going left and right, as if they were trying to push us off the road,” Shekerisnka said. “At one point they opened their window and started throwing plastic bottles at us.”

Shekerinska explained that after this her driver picked up speed and managed to escape the attackers.

While Shekerinska said she would not “dare to think that someone from the ruling party may stand behind this”, she accused the VMRO DPMNE party led government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of “creating an atmosphere of hatred that stimulates violence and incidents against political opponents”.

In response to Shekerinska's statements, Police Minister Gordana Jankulovskia, a member of the ruling party and one of the front runners in the elections, accused the opposition candidate of not abiding the laws and, as a result, making an investigation more difficult to carry out.

“The law stipulates that a person must remain in place in case of a traffic accident and immediately report the incident to the police,” Jankulovska told media.

“Shekerinska did not do that. On the contrary, she reported the event first to the TV instead of to the institutions.”

The opposition is urging the police to investigate the case, fearing that the incident could paint a black stain on the country’s democratic record during the forthcoming June 5 early elections.

Over the past several weeks, observers have noticed that the election campaign in Macedonia has turned increasingly negative, aimed at slamming political opponents.

Several opposition parties, including the biggest group, the Social Democrats, have reported intimidation and damage to their local headquarters.

The ruling party denies all involvment in incidents and accuses the opposition of attempting to create an alibi for what it says will be the Social Democrats' forthcoming election defeat.