The political parties of the opposition front led by SDSM (NSDP, LP, New Alternative, etc) backed the demands of the leader of the Social Democrats, Branko Crvenkovski, for holding regular elections.

“The opposition is not going to return to Parliament unless the conditions for fair and democratic elections are met. In case Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski calls early elections without meeting the opposition demands, the opposition front is going to boycott them,” MP Gjorgji Orovcanec from New Alternative said after the meeting of the leaders of the opposition parties at the SDSM HQ Tuesday.

The Social Democrats have recently set five demands for holding early elections: unblocking the accounts of A1 television, Vreme, Spic, and ****e re, equitable distribution of government money for media campaigns, modifications to the election law, establishing a parliamentary committee to review the voters’ list, and constitutional modifications to remove Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski from the Judicial Council.

“The opposition demands have to be met. They are all logical, reasonable and indispensable. Unless Gruevski accepts them, it will mean that he does not want elections. We are going to return to Parliament when Gruevski pledges that all demands will be met. We are not coming back until they are met. That means that if Gruevski decides to organize elections without meeting our demands, the opposition political parties are not going to run,” Orovcanec said.