Former President Stevo Pendarovski delivered a sharp warning to SDSM leadership: either the party makes deep changes, or it faces the risk of marginalisation and disappearance from the Macedonian political scene.

"Either you change your political strategy and approach to citizens, or you bring in new people who can reach different voter segments. Without such changes, there is a serious risk the party will continue to decline - and even enter the statistical margin of error in future elections," Pendarovski warned.

He pointed to a clear paradox: although VMRO-DPMNE lost some support, SDSM failed to attract disaffected voters. The problem lies not just in communication, but in core policy, strategy, and personnel decisions.