Brvenica is electing a mayor, and the candidates have come out with programmes that reveal more about what the municipality lacks than they promise anything new. Water, roads, a kindergarten, young people leaving - the old list of a small municipality in the Polog region.

The VMRO-DPMNE candidate promises to continue the projects and the "path" of the previous mayor, Ilievski. The focus is on the sports hall in Gorni Chelopek, which is under construction, a kindergarten in Chelopek due to start construction in a few months, and an interchange onto the Tetovo - Gostivar - Skopje motorway, a project in cooperation with the central government.

The SDSM candidate offers "improved infrastructure and environment and equal opportunities for all", a modern zone for processing farm produce, renovation and expansion of the water network and a solution for water in the village of Gurgurnica. He also promises that construction of a chapel in the village of Brven will begin in the very first year of his term.

The "Vredi" candidate builds his programme on four pillars, one of which is for young people: "Young people should see their future here." The DUI candidate talks about a "more functional, more developed and better organised Brvenica" and says the municipality "doesn't just need words". Independent candidate Dushan Bogdanovski proposes small and medium-sized municipal companies, if an analysis shows it is feasible. Independent candidate Arife Idrizi did not respond to the request for a statement.

Take away the party names and almost all the programmes boil down to the same thing: water, a road, a kindergarten, jobs for young people. It looks more like an inventory of what has been missing for years than a vision. The question for voters is simple - which of them has an answer as to why none of this has been done until now?