Macedonia to hold snap elections

[Vangelovski]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ament-23896837

What exactly happens in this situation now?

There should be a by-election (or rerun) for those particular seats, but its irrelevant to the greater scheme of things. I think the interesting thing to watch now will be the new coalition deal between DPMNE and DUI and what DUI/Albanians will get out of it.

[Volokin]

Lawmakers from Macedonia's center-left opposition have resigned their seats in parliament after claiming the general elections last month were unfair.

The Social Democrats, who announced the resignations Wednesday, said they would not provide replacements for the 34 seats left vacant in the 123-member parliament or participate in special elections.

The Social Democrats suffered their fourth straight election defeat to rival conservatives in snap polls in April. They claimed Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's conservatives used government influence to interfere in election campaigning, and demanded a caretaker government be formed to hold new elections. Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party rejected the claims.

International monitors said the election was adequately run, but noted they had also received reports of campaign interference.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/macedonia-opposition-resigns-seats-parliament-23896837

What exactly happens in this situation now?

[George S.]

I read somewhere on this forum that dui is not happy with the election results and that they don't recognize George Ivanov as the winner.The shiptars don't seem to want to support ivanov,

[DedoAleko]

social democratic union of Macedonia Reaches Decision to Withdraw from Parliament


After a long discussion the Central Committee of SDSM has decided to withdraw parliamentary mandates. The decision came after several former members of parliament and party representatives requested resignation of the leader Zoran Zaev and deputy Radmila Sekerinska due to bad election results.

The final assessment is to be confirmed at the Congress on May 11 where the new strategy of SDSM will be adopted.

The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia has brought the decision of not accepting the mandates after a long democratic debate, Zaev wrote on his Facebook profile.
According to the members, if they are to return in the Assembly, they will confirm the government legitimacy which is of no use to the future of the state. On the other hand if they withdraw, the party will be left aside, but this decision will be a message to the international community, to pay more attention to the situation in Macedonia.

http://www.independent.mk/articles/4528/Social+Democratic+Union+of+Macedonia+Reaches+Decision+to+Withdraw+from+Parliament

[DedoAleko]

[George S.]

What a joke someone said was to the number of seats in paliament.also yhe number of parties is a joke.look at how big
In comparison to other countries are.

[lavce pelagonski]

GROM is going to join the ruling party and there is no way dui has a chance. it may not be a majority but they have 61 seats in parliament. which leaves the opposition as a whole sds 34 and dui 19. dpa have 7 seats

[Risto the Great]

I think time will tell. Lets see what VMRO can do now they have majority.

But they have 43%, which is not a majority.
So nothing changes. Can Macedonia really afford to remain in it's present situation much longer?

[lavce pelagonski]

I think time will tell. Lets see what VMRO can do now they have majority. It is never too late unless your SDS, they need a total over haul of their party structure.

[Risto the Great]

Better the devil you know?
It's still a devil after all.

[DedoAleko]

Macedonia's Ruling Conservatives Claim Double Election Victory

SKOPJE — Hundreds of supporters of Macedonia's conservative ruling party celebrated in downtown Skopje as their party claimed victory in parliamentary and presidential elections on April 28, based on preliminary results of the ballot that the opposition said it would not recognize.

With more than 63 percent of the votes counted, the VMRO-DPMNE party was leading with 43 percent, compared with 24 percent for the main opposition party, the center-left SDSM, the state electoral commission said.

VMRO-DPMNE's Nikola Gruevski, 43, has ruled the landlocked former Yugoslav republic of 2 million people since 2006 in coalition with his ethnic Albanian partners, the DUI party.

Zoran Zaev, leader of the main opposition party, the center-left SDSM, accused Gruevski and his party of “abusing the entire state system,” saying there were “threats and blackmails and massive buying of voters.”

Gruevski's party immediately dismissed the opposition allegations as an attempt to manipulate public opinion.

Opposition parties have often accused Gruevski of creeping authoritarianism and corruption. Foreign diplomats in Skopje say there are concerns about media freedom and political pressure on journalists.

Gruevski has said any complaints of authoritarianism come from opposition parties that lack a concrete political program to unseat him. He has dismissed as false the corruption charges and has threatened lawsuits against SDSM's Zaev.

It was not immediately clear what concrete steps the opposition would take once the results are officially confirmed. The SDSM said it was “keeping all options open and would decide in the next few days.”

Macedonia remains one of Europe's poorest countries, with unemployment above 28 percent, but Gruevski's government has achieved solid economic growth, low public debt and a rise in foreign investment, unlike most neighbors in the Balkans.

http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-macedonias-ruling-conservatives-claim-double-election-victory/1902436.html

[lavce pelagonski]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1OV7rjPfS4

[lavce pelagonski]

[Sweet Sixteen]

The diaspora was entitled to vote for the first time in the 2011 parliamentary elections. According to SEC data, there were 4,591 voters in Europe, half of whom voted (2,494). In America, out of the 1,824 registered voters, 994 persons voted (or 54.5%). In Australia, 600 out of the 794 voters cast ballots, representing the highest turnout in all three electoral constituencies outside Macedonia (75.19%).

This time only 550 people voted in Asia and Australia for the presidential elections. Ivanov took 92%. Halimi took zero votes! I guess eventually none of you voted.


---

[lavce pelagonski]

Pendarovski calls Macedonians who voted for Ivanov "stoki"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGz0p45bCjo