Off the wire
• Australia to increase defence spending in Defence White Paper  • Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Feb. 24  • Diving World Cup nears conclusion  • Roundup: Canadian stocks dip down after crude recedes  • Juve answers Bayern iron grip with passion  • 2nd LD Writethru: Freedom of navigation in South China Sea not a problem: Chinese FM  • Messi for regular games, Maradona for big finals, says Argentinean president  • Tasmania's bushfire frequency highest in 1,000 years: Aussie study  • U.S. woman convicted of of cutting fetus from stranger's womb, facing 120 years in prison  • Portuguese parliament approves draft state budget for 2016  
You are here: 　 Home

Urgent: Macedonian early elections postponed to June 5

Xinhua, February 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Macedonian parliament adopted a decision on Tuesday to postpone its early elections that were initially agreed for April 24 to June 6.

"The decision for the election date was in our hands, and also we had the responsibility. Our purpose was not to satisfy the opposition, our goal was not to leave room for any speculations about the regularity of the election process," Nikola Gruevski, former Macedonian prime minister and leader of ruling VMRO-DPMNE said at a press conference early Wednesday.

The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) was loudest in demanding postponement of the snap elections, claiming that necessary preconditions for free and fair elections are not met. Enditem