Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Former Macedonian Prime Minister in No Position to Form Government - Opposition

 
Former Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski whose center-right VMRO-DPMNE party declared victory in a parliamentary election has no right to form a new government, because the final results will show the opposition had won the vote, Zoran Zaev, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) said Tuesday. 
Supporters of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski
Supporters of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski © REUTERS/ Marko Djurica Is Macedonia Becoming New Hotbed in Geopolitical Standoff Between West and Russia? BELGRADE (Sputnik) — 
 
On Monday, the Macedonian State Election Commission announced preliminary results of the snap election held on Sunday. Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE won 51 seats while SDSM got 49. The other 23 mandates were won by various parties of Albanian minorities. Gruevski already announced his party's victory but the opposition refused to accept the results. "The final results that we have show differences between the protocols from polling stations and what was declared by SEC. If we take this into account, SDSM gets more support in the Sixth district, and the final result is 50 to 50," Zaev said at a press conference broadcast by several local TV channels. Zaev called on all the parties excluding VMRO-DPMNE to show respect for the choice of the people and choose "changes over the defeated regime." He emphasized that the people opted for "life in which there is no place for such politicians as Nikola Gruevski. 
 
That is why he has no right to form a new government". The parliamentary elections in Macedonia took place on Sunday, December 11. The final results are to be declared later on Tuesday. The political crisis in Macedonia began in 2015 as the opposition accused the ruling conservatives of intercepting telephone conversations of some 20,000 people, including police officers, judges, journalists and diplomats. It resulted in the agreement reached last year between the most influential parties in Macedonia, under which then-Prime Minster Gruevski resigned in January, the parliament was dissolved. Early elections were repeatedly announced and then canceled.

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