In a TV24 interview on Thursday evening, the new SDSM vice president Sanja Lukarevska said she found it a welcome challenge to succeed Radmila Shekerinska in the position of party vice president. Shekerinska, Lukarevska said, has left a mark on society and has been an inspiration to many young politicians.

“I believe and I know that to many young women starting out in politics at the time, she was their idol,” Lukarevska recalled, adding that young politicians looked up to the current Minister of Defense and wanted to reach her level.

“Shekerinska is a political figure who has left, and will further leave, a mark on pluralism and society,” Lukarevska said.

Regarding Shekerinska stepping down from the position of vice president, Lukarevska said she had found out about it in media reports.

“Shekerinska is not leaving,” she noted. “She remains a SDSM member and has a lot to offer, and we still have a lot to learn from her experience.”

As the new vice president of the SDSM, Lukarevska said she would advocate for a greater representation of women in leading positions as well as for maintaining the 50:50 male-female ratio in the party’s managerial leadership.

Lukarevska was elected Shekerinska’s successor at the May 16, 2021, SDSM congress.

Earlier, Shekerinska had announced she was resigning from the position of party vice president.