No Snap Polls in Macedonia, Ruling Party Says

The leadership of the centre-right party explained that there is no legitimate reason for going to elections two years before the expiration of the government's regular four year mandate.

Elections would distract the party from fulfilling its platform to “fight against crime and corruption, deal with the effects of the world economic crisis and boost efforts for Macedonia's EU and NATO integration,” the VMRO DPMNE statement reads.

The ruling party added, however, that it believes it would win double the votes of the opposition Social Democrats if elections were held now.

The opposition Social Democrats filed their motion for early elections on Sunday, during their major rally against the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of the VMRO DPMNE.

The opposition accuses the government of installing criminal and undemocratic rule and blames the country's leaders for empty promises of economic revival and for stalling Macedonia’s accession to NATO and the EU.

Gruevski came to power in 2006 and again won a landslide victory in snap elections in 2008. The next regular date for elections is in 2010.

The junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, dismissed the opposition’s proposal as soon as it was filed, saying that it would be senseless for the country to go on snap polls before solving the long standing name dispute with neighboring Greece.

The Greek blockade over the unresolved dispute is the main reason why the country has been stuck at the doorstep of NATO since 2008 and why it cannot start its EU accession talks despite recommendations from the European Commission.

The Social Democrats, together with their coalition partners, hold just 30 seats in the 120 seat parliament, not enough for a vote of no confidence to dissolve parliament. VMRO DPMNE alone controls almost half of the seats.
 
The opposition says it is counting on the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration and on the other smaller parties who currently support the government for the elections initiative to work.

Parliament speaker Trajko Veljanovski has yet to decide when to put this issue up for debate in parliament.