Macedonia
continues to go through a political crisis, after Commissioner for
European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn
and the leaders of the four main political parties in Macedonia failed
to reach an agreement on settling the crisis earlier this week.
Western
media claims that Nikola Gruevski, the current Prime Minister
of Macedonia, created the crisis that puts his government at risk,
EUobserver reported.
Recently, Gruevski was accused of mass illegal surveillance, election fraud, as well as abuse of the country's justice system and media.
Gruevski and Zoran Zaev, the Macedonian opposition leader, agreed to hold early parliamentary elections in April 2016. However, the two politicians can't agree when Gruevski must step down. Zaev wants Gruevski to step down in October so that a technocratic government can prepare fair elections. According to Zaev, if Gruevski doesn't step down, he will rig the new elections in 2016, EUobserver said.
In May, opposition groups staged mass anti-government protests in the Macedonian capital of Skopje that drew thousands of demonstrators.
Recently, Gruevski was accused of mass illegal surveillance, election fraud, as well as abuse of the country's justice system and media.
Now the European Commission wants to send the
government in Skopje a list of tough rule-of-law reforms. If Gruevski
doesn't react and there is no action taken by his government, the
Commission will stop backing Macedonia's EU entry talks, EUobserver
said.
Macedonia has been a candidate country for EU accession since 2005.
However, negotiations haven't made any significant progress and there
are many obstacles that stand in the way.Gruevski and Zoran Zaev, the Macedonian opposition leader, agreed to hold early parliamentary elections in April 2016. However, the two politicians can't agree when Gruevski must step down. Zaev wants Gruevski to step down in October so that a technocratic government can prepare fair elections. According to Zaev, if Gruevski doesn't step down, he will rig the new elections in 2016, EUobserver said.
Gruevski, on the other hand, said the majority
of Macedonians support his government and if the elections were held
today, his party would win them easily.
Macedonia has been mired in political crisis since the elections
in April 2014. The opposition blames the government of current
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for the country's social and
economic problems, aggravated by corruption.In May, opposition groups staged mass anti-government protests in the Macedonian capital of Skopje that drew thousands of demonstrators.
No comments:
Post a Comment