Macedonia PM Cuts Red Ribbons Ahead of Election

PM Nikola Gruevski at a Ground-Breaking Ceremony in Skopje | Photo by: Macedonian Government

Doctors say that most wings of the new gynecology clinic in Skopje are still not operational.

But that did not stop Macedonia's centre-right Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, from planning to cut the red tape and formally open the new building on Thursday.

In the event, after camera crews and employees had arrived, and the parking lot had been cleared by security for the arrival of the prime minister's convoy, the government announced that it was postponing the ceremony.

A source from the clinic told Balkan Insight that the ceremony was planned on the request of the government.

The same source said that the new building “still lacks most of the medical equipment and elevators that it needs to be ready to admit patients”.

The government is saving the most spectacular opening ceremonies for last.

Construction workers on Skopje’s Philip of Macedonia football arena are working day and night to meet a new April 24 deadline when two new public stands will be opened.

The original time for completion of the stands was after the summer but the government has since reset the deadline, some say to match the start of the election campaign.

Completion is eagerly awaited by Macedonian football fans, and the government is already running televised adverts inviting people to attend the launch of the stands.

One other high-profile project, the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and the Victims of Communism, situated in central Skopje, has also been given a speedier date for completion.

Initially set to open at the end of this year, the building, which forms a part of a grand government-financed revamp of the capital, named Skopje 2014, is now preparing to open in late May, days before the June 5 elections.

The museum in central Skopje will feature a major collection of wax figures of Macedonian revolutionaries and heroes along with a number of paintings and murals.

Government spokesman Martin Martionvski maintains that the promotions have nothing to do with the date of the election. "All these activites are part of government's continuous investment in the construction of projects in the capital," he said.

Government ministers have had a packed agenda of other groundbreaking ceremonies recently.

Last week, Gruevski attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the new building of the Agency for Electronic Communications. A week earlier, Vice-Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski graced a similar ceremony for the new finance ministry.

Gruevski, whose VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition has a majority in parliament, called June 5 snap polls last week after two months of failed talks with opposition parties over the election rules. Parliament is expected to dissolve next week ahead of what observers expect to be a tough election campaign.