Supporters of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party which faces losing power after 11 years at the helm, took to the streets bearing cardboard shields, painted in the national colours, red and yellow, to display dislike for the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM)-led coalition government.

“This will not be the last day. The battle will continue, as long as Gjorge Ivanov is the President, the man who defends our country’s sovereignty, we will be here to give him our support, as he supports us” said Bogdan Ilievski, one of the protest organizers from the informal movement “for United Macedonia”.

“We again today extend our gratitude [to the president]. Do not yield before the pressures, we are here with you, so we can keep our backbone straight and heads high,” Ilievski told the protesters.

Macedonia’s long standing political crisis deteriorated on March 1, when President Gjorge Ivanov, who was elected head of state as VMRO-DPMNE’s candidate, refused to grant SDSM leader Zoran Zaev the mandate to form a government, despite the opposition leader having secured a majority in parliament.

Protest organizers announced a stepping up of efforts and told demonstrators to remain on stand-by suspecting possible attempts by the opposition SDSM to undo the work of the parliament and elect a new speaker and government before the Easter holidays which start on Thursday.

However, the resumption of the constitutive parliament session on Monday went largely uneventful, as VMRO-DPMNE MPs continued their filibustering with lengthy discussions.

Meanwhile, the SDSM repeated its call for “reasoning” in a press release and once more accused VMRO-DPMNE of holding Macedonia hostage solely for the purposes of clinging to power and avoiding criminal processes against leaders being investigated for alleged corruption.

Renewed protest efforts are developing amid an already tense atmosphere in the country caused by reports in pro-government media outlets saying that so-called “patriotic associations”, a number of which have been formed in the last two months, have started “mobilising” to defend Macedonia against the prospect of an opposition-led government.

Strongly reflecting the position of VMRO-DPMNE, the protesters and the “patriotic organizations” insist that should the opposition comes to power, it would spell a disaster for Macedonia’s sovereignty and integrity due to Zaev’s alleged acceptance of a so-called “Tirana Platform.”

The platform is a list of joint demands agreed on by Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian parties, who have joined Zaev to create a majority. The platfrom has this name as the demands were put together at a meeting in Tirana, Albania.

Macedonia has not managed to form a new government since holding early elections in December last year. Several calls from high-ranking EU and US representatives to respect the election outcome have not changed President Ivanov’s mind.

Most recently, European Commission spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic said Monday that a new Macedonian government “must be established without further delay based on the parliamentary majority that is there.”

Parliament is expected to resume its constitutive session for the 11th time Tuesday. No significant developments are presently expected.