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Feature: Macedonian PM submits resignation, prepares for election

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski submitted his resignation on Friday. The resignation letter was sent to the Macedonian Parliament and will become effective 100 days prior the next parliamentary elections in the country.

According to the agreement among the four main political parties in the country, an interim Prime Minister should lead the country into the elections, initially planned for April 24.

"Our country has been stuck in a political crisis for too long. My party made many compromises and we were criticized for it, but we made them in the interest of the country. We fulfilled all our obligations," Gruevski said in his live address to the nation on Thursday night.

His party VMRO-DPMNE has elected the current party general secretary Emil Dimitriev to take over the interim Prime Minister post once Gruevski's resignation becomes effective.

"He is a serious and responsible person that has proven his professional capabilities on many positions, so we believe that he will fully and responsibly take on the Prime Minister post in the government that will organize the elections. Our intention is to close this negative and destructive period for our country," Ilija Dimovski, member of the Executive Committee of VRMO-DPMNE said.

Macedonian opposition welcomed Gruevski's resignation as a signal for "the beginning of the end" for the current majority ruling the country for the past 10 years.

But the opposition still argues that the necessary conditions to secure free and fair elections on April 24 are not met. This leaves the final election date still under speculation.

The President of the Macedonian Parliament Trajko Veljanoski confirmed that he received Gruevski's letter for resignation, adding that he expects that the main political parties will overcome their mutual disagreements and set an official date for the premature elections.

The EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn is in Skopje on Friday in an attempt to facilitate the political dialogue on the election date. Enditem