NGO’s, today handed a third letter to US Ambassador Jess Baily, and also EU Ambassador Avio Orav, the letter states that not even the minimum requirements for credible elections have been met. At 18:00 they will protest outside Parliament to demand a postponement of the forthcoming elections which are scheduled to be held on June 5.
“It is not enough that only some progress in the electoral reforms has been made in order to create conditions to overcome the political crisis, however it is also necessary and significant to make progress on other reforms such as, the rule of law and fundamental rights, de-politicization of public administration and freedom of expression. It has been noticed that there has been a serious setback in the rule of law and the separation of powers, expressed through political arbitrariness and the usurpation of the legislative and the judiciary from the executive. The unilateral decision of the dissolution of Parliament is an unconstitutional act, which at the same time goes against the principles of the consensus of the Przino Agreement”, said Andreja Stojkovski from the “Macedonian Center for European Training.”
NGOs condemned Ivanov’s decision to pardon all politicians who are on trial and have asked him to resign, to immediately call a meeting with Parliament and to postpone the elections.
“We consider the immediate withdrawal of this decision necessary and the resignation of Gjorge Ivanov as President. We expect Parliament to re-convene so that they can come to the decision to postpone elections scheduled for June 5 for an indefinite time period and a commitment to an interim Government who will implement the necessary reforms”, said analyst Ramadan Ramadani.
If conditions are not met for free, fair and democratic elections, civil society organizations have announced a boycott of the elections if they are announced on June 5, and will call for protests against a regime that tramples over human rights.
