Premature elections agreed on in Macedonia as crisis exit strategy

Premature parliamentary elections are to be held in Macedonia by the end of April 2016 in an attempt to end the deep political crisis in the country, political leaders decided Tuesday.

The agreement was made here at a meeting among leaders of the country's four biggest political parties along with the EU commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn.

In the meantime, the nine-month transitional period leading up to the elections is to be used to solve the internal problems in the country and to reform the election legislation.

"We agreed on a transitional period and to have premature elections by April next year. But before that, it is important to prepare the country. There is a need to cleanse the election list and to accept the EU recommendations," Commissioner Hahn told reporters in Skopje after the meeting.

The details of the compromise are to be defined at a new meeting in Brussels next week. The issue remains open on whether there will be a transitional government in the country in the run up to the elections and, if so, who will lead it.

The opposition Social Democratic party (SDSM) demands that the transitional government not be led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

The leaders of the four major parties in Macedonina, namely the revolutionary party (VMRO-DPMNE), SDSM, the Democratic Union for Integration party (DUI) and the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), refused to comment on the issues agreed on at the eight-hour session.

The opposition in Macedonia has been boycotting all state institutions since the last parliamentary elections, not recognizing the electoral results of April last year.

The political crisis intensified in the last few months, when the opposition started publishing audio recordings from alleged wiretapped phone calls among high ranking officials, claiming that their conversations prove the government's involvement in corruption cases.

In the past few weeks, supporters of the opposition have organized protests and are camping out in front of the government building, demanding the government be dissolved.

Government supporters, on the other hand, are also camping out in front of the parliament, claiming they are ready to defend the institutions and the results achieved at the last parliamentary elections. Endit