Macedonia Press Review – February 18, 2013

DNEVNIK
The opposition boycott of the local elections in March will complicate the political crisis in the country, local observers say for the daily. They argue that the opposition move would especially jeopardize country’s international image and its bid to join EU and NATO. The opposition on Saturday did not submit its list of mayoral candidates until the midnight deadline, after the government refused their final demand to postpone the polls for one month or accept a parallel early general poll.

UTRINSKI VESNIK
There was a storm of reaction after the opposition Social Democrads expelled their prominent member Stevce Jakimovski. The party this weekend promptly expelled Jakimovski and marked him as a traitor after he disobeyed their decision to boycott the local polls and submitted his candidacy anyway. Jakimovski is a popular mayor of Skopje’s Karposh municipality.

Balkan Insight has not verified the reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.