The Constitutional Court of Macedonia is in a session that started today exactly at 9:00 am to decide whether the President will have the right returned to him to pardon persons convicted of electoral fraud or for the current decision to remain, which was disabled by amendments in 2009.
Because of this initiative, yesterday in the streets of the capital there were two protests. One, organized by the civil platform “Ajde,” under the motto “To defend the Constitution from the Constitutional Court,” and was supported by the opposition. Thousands of citizens at the protest asked that the Amnesty Law not be amended, and also asked for the resignation of the five constitutional judges, which, according to protesters, work for the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE.
Another protest was organized by the Government, through Stevco Jakimovski’s party GROM. The organizers of the protest, who pitched tents in front of the Constitutional Court, said they were there to defend the Constitutional Court and the constitutional order.
Hundreds of citizens this morning again gathered in front of the Constitutional Court, as they say, to protect the constitutional order. We talked to a several of them and asked how long they plan to stay, but no one wanted to give us a specific answer. Some citizens before the court, came here early in the morning, and some even spent the night there.
Dozens of journalists and cameramen, however, standing in front of the Constitutional Court, are awaiting a written decision from the court explaining why today’s session is closed. Journalists tried to enter and attend the session as any other, but were not allowed to enter the court.
In front of the Constitutional Court dozens of supporters from the GROM rally stayed the night, as protesters led by the civil platform “Ajde” left the Macedonian National Theatre, where the protest was brought to a halt.
