SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski said Monday that he would accept early elections provided the conditions his political party had set in order to return to Parliament were met.

In response to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s interview on Sunday in which he invited the leader of SDSM to elections, Crvenkovski said at the press conference Monday that he gave up the fifth condition – constitutional modifications to exclude Justice Minister Manevski from the Judicial Council – by the other four remained.

“I welcome your decision to finally muster courage to accept our demand for early parliamentary elections that are the only democratic means for resolving this grave crisis and a way out of the dead-end. Early parliamentary elections should and have to be held, but not just any kind of elections. Only fair and democratic elections are a solution and a way out. Everything else will only worsen and radicalize the crisis,” Crvenkovski said.

In his view, all five conditions that SDSM defined to return to Parliament are legitimate and logical.

The same day our conditions are met, Crvenkovski stressed, SDSM is going to return to Parliament. He also said that with sincere political will and hard work all conditions could be met by 15 March.

“Then all preparations can be finished by 20 April at the latest when Parliament dissolves and the conditions for the early parliamentary elections to be held in mid June are met,” Crvenkovski added.

Answering a journalist’s question, the leader of SDSM said that the early parliamentary elections would not at all stand in the way of the census which should be taken in April.

VMRO-DPMNE held a session of its executive committee Monday night and is expected to announce its stance about calling early elections and about the current situation in the country Tuesday. Almost all members of the executive committee as well as a few ministers and functionaries of the executive and legislative branch attended the meeting.