Political Deadlock Continues in Macedonia

Both the government and opposition parties exchanged their demands at the meeting, after which the opposition announced they would continue their parliament boycott.

While the opposition says that conditions for early elections and improvement of media freedom are prerequisites for their return to parliament, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said he will discuss their demands only after they end their boycott.

After talks ended late on Monday, Gruevski, who is also head of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party, said the opposition was insincere in its call for early elections, and that they were in fact doing everything possible to put off snap polls by conditioning them with reforms.

"We expect the opposition to return to its regular work, to stop damaging the state and citizens in this manner. This opposition behavior will bring harm to the entire country, its Euro-Atlantic integration, its image," Gruevski said.

The head of the main opposition Social Democrats, Branko Crvenkovski, said that the meeting was unsuccessful.

“It is good that this meeting was held, but bad that it ended without results,” Crvenkovski told media.

The Social Democrats say they want snap polls but first they want amendments to the Electoral Law and an update of the electoral roll that international observers say contains many dead voters whose ballots may be used for fraud.

They have also asked for a constitutional amendment to remove the minister of justice from the Judicial and Prosecutor's Councils.

Leaders of other smaller opposition parties also attended the meeting, which was held at the president’s residence. The head of the junior ruling Democratic Union for Integration, Ali Ahmeti, was present at the gathering as well.

Macedonian opposition parties started a boycott of parliament two weeks ago. The immediate reason for their decision to leave the assembly was a court ruling that blocked the account of A1 TV, Macedonia’s most popular TV, which is often critical of the government. A1 alleges that the Gruevski's government influenced the court decision, charges that Gruevski strongly denies.

The opposition accuses Gruevski of curbing democratic freedoms, failing to deliver economic progress and keeping Macedonia at an arm's length from NATO and EU membership.