Like an ostrich with its head stuck in the ground, the leadership of the ruling SDSM seems to have no real idea how the citizens of the most unhappy country in Europe live. The stories of the type - one thousand and three hundred kilometers of roads built, the shopping of the prime minister in the markets and giving a speech at the opening of a part of a renovated clinic with funds provided by the American taxpayers, in which he states how the government takes care of the health of the citizens, are devilishly reminiscent on Gruevski's "Potemkin villages", when he convinced us that we were the first in this or the second in that in the world and beyond. One populist regime in our recent history is really enough for us.

So, do the Minister of Transport and the Prime Minister think that they have built XNUMX kilometers of roads, as if they are not moving on land when they go to promote their policy across the country. Or, indeed, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy think that if they go to the markets to check if the bread cost thirty-three denars and if that price is frozen, the citizens will think that they are working sacrificially to make their lives easier, while in the meantime they are giving tenders for the supervision of highway construction of companies registered for textiles?

Really, is there anyone who thinks that in the 21st century it is a great achievement for citizens to be able to buy bread and milk at preferential prices? They say that politicians are operated on by shame. Proof of this is the Prime Minister's speech at the opening of a part of the renovated University Clinic for Gastroenterohepatology in which he, in the presence of American Ambassador Ageler, emphasized that "health is the top priority of the government." If health was the top priority of the Macedonian government, why then were the funds for the renovation of the clinic provided by the American government?

How can one explain this degradation of SDSM's personnel potential, which began immediately after the end of the Colorful Revolution, when the then prime minister appointed "countrymen and dear neighbors" to leadership positions throughout the country, whose incompetence and corruption are like a stone (which comes from close ) hit his head and sealed his political career. A prominent former minister and current ambassador has stated on one occasion that "the only policy that SDSM leads and it is mostly unsuccessful is the personnel policy". Although this statement was made long before the real erosion of quality personnel born from the bosom of Bihaćka began, these days we see how visionary she sounded.

And, indeed, if you look at the composition of the first few governments headed by the SDSM, in which more than half were university professors and businessmen, confirmed in their relevant fields, and if those compositions are compared with those from the Colorful Revolution until today, only what can be ascertained is the absence of almost any criteria for the selection of the members of the governments of Zaev and Kovacevski (except perhaps, personal and private ones). Of course, the exceptions that exist are only there to confirm the rule that the majority of current ministers are not up to the level of the serious and highly professional task they have undertaken to perform. Honor the exceptions. And it is no wonder that the results of their work are what they are, none. This, of course, includes the members of the government who come from all the political stakeholders of the current government coalition.

The fiasco with the failure to increase the parliamentary majority, aimed at securing a sufficient majority to pass the constitutional amendments that would have included the Bulgarians (as a constituent people?) in the Preamble, only shows how unsuccessful the government's attempts to deliver any result would have given it greater credibility. On the contrary, day by day it (credibility) falls more and more. Well, even if we take with a grain of salt the last survey of public opinion ordered and carried out by structures close to the opposition and if the results are put into some reasonable, realistic frameworks taken out of the pink wafer that was served to Mickoski, it can be freely stated that the results of the next parliamentary elections will be devastating for the ruling SDSM.

But in order to ascertain that, polls are not needed, it is enough to follow the "results" of the governments of Zaev and Kovacevski, their attitude towards capable party cadres and the hiring of those other incompetent ones who are not able to deliver visible results. The most egregious example that illustrates the attitude of the SDSM leadership towards its membership is the result of the local elections in Kumanovo. There, the distancing of the party from its candidate Maksim Dimitrievski, a long-time member of the party's leadership due to personal animosities he had with members of the central leadership, resulted in a disastrous result for SDSM, which in Kumanovo had the largest municipal organization in the country. Dimitrievski's victory in the local elections sent a message to the party leadership that SDSM needs quality personnel, not court games in which vanity and personal impatience are above party and state interests.

That mistake could have been corrected if the new leadership of SDSM, after Zaev's departure from the helm of the party, was able to perceive the real situation of the loss of reliable party votes. But that didn't happen. With known SDSM arrogance, the new leadership continued with the policy of disinterest and ignoring the indications of a large number of verified and faithful members of the SDSM that the party is not going in the right direction, neither in the relationship to the membership, nor in the relationship to the state. They, the well-intentioned party members and activists who "left their bones" for the social democracy in Macedonia for several decades, in the well-known manner of self-righteousness, were labeled as vmrovci and distanced as the biggest heretics.

It is certain that the tendency of the electorate to vote for SDSM will continue in the future. It is also certain that SDSM will not be a factor (at least not decisive) in the formation of the new government after the 2024 elections. The chorus of the well-known melody rings in my ears: "Think of what we could have done, maybe it's too late, maybe not, does the end smell like this?" Does anyone in the leadership of the SDSM think that everything could have been done after the Colorful Revolution, and not all did after the fall of Gruevski's regime?

It is already clear to everyone that it is too late for Macedonia to return to normal democratic frameworks. And about the direction in which the country will move after 2024, I'm already afraid to even think about it. What is more certain is that some new "nails", I sincerely hope, who will think well of the party and the state in the period from 2024 to 2028, will try to return SDSM to the capacity that will be needed someday in this state-building process. party to stand on its feet again and fight for the Euro-Atlantic values, undermined at every step and by everyone. Or is it already too late for that?