It is evident that the demands of SDSM are just an excuse for them not to participate in the early elections, that is to say to delay them, because they know they do not have the citizens’ support and they would be opposition in the next four years as well, VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski said after his 10-hour meeting with SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski Tuesday. Crvenkovski stated earlier that unless the key demands of SDSM were met, they would not return to Parliament and may boycott the elections. In his view, it is good that the leaders met and a meaningful debate was opened, primarily regarding the election law and also regarding the other issues that the opposition set as conditions for returning to Parliament and participating in the coming parliamentary elections.

According to Gruevski, early parliamentary elections are possible even if the opposition boycotts because, he emphasized, “the goal of the governing party is to meet all logical and sometimes illogical demands of the opposition, primarily of SDSM.”

“After we meet their demands, it is up to them to decide whether they would participate in the elections or not. We do not rule out the possibility to take part in the elections even if they boycott,” Gruevski said.

The initial term (31 March) for dissolution of Parliament has been shifted by 10 days, the leader of the governing party said, expressing hope that the new term will be honored. Gruevski said that if necessary there will be another meeting with Crvenkovski as well as with the leaders of the other parliamentary parties. At the meeting of the two leaders, the governing party accepted over 30 opposition demands and in the course of the talks SDSM kept tabling new suggestions.

Opposition leader Crvenkovski said that an agreement over the demands concerning the elections law had not been reached. As regards the voters’ list, SDSM demanded that the review should be carried out over the course of 30 instead of 20 days as proposed by VMRO-DPMNE.

“We did not agree over the composition of the election committees, as issue without which we cannot endorse the election law,” the opposition leader said.

According to Crvenkovski, there is no will to unblock the accounts of A1, Spic, Vreme and Koha e Re.

“We support the fight against crime and corruption. Those that break the law should be held accountable. However, media should be let do their job,” Crvenkovski said.

Gruevski reiterated that VMRO-DPMNE’s stance about the case Cobweb remained unchanged, that is to say, the political parties, the Parliament and the Government had no powers to interfere considering that was a matter of the judicial branch.

VMRO-DPMNE suggested that the president of the State Election Commission (DIK) should be elected at the parliamentary meeting Wednesday and unless SDSM returned to Parliament, the majority might elect the president of DIK without the opposition. The governing party also suggested that the modifications to the election law should also be adopted in line with SDSM’s demands, that is to say, the recommendations of the OSCE and the ODIHR, and that a commission should be established to review the voters’ list. This commission will have to complete its job by 26 March and file a report to the Parliament, which should be accepted by 30 March at the latest.

As regards the media law, according to Crvenkovski, there is no will on the part of the governing party for the law to be passed. Gruevski reiterated that no other country in the world had such a law. However, in order for them to meet midway, they suggested that on the day Parliament dissolved all informative campaigns of the Government should stop even though the law set no such obligation.

As for the SDSM demand that the government and the opposition should have two representatives each to the election committees and that the presidents of the committees should be experienced civil servants, VMRO-DPMNE believes that the present solution according to which the government and the opposition have one representative each is good. The governing party accepted the SDSM demand for guaranteed quotas of the smaller ethnic groups provided that it is accepted by all major political parties. VMRO-DPMNE also accepted the SDSM demand that the activities that are allowed and those that are not allowed in the run-up to the election campaign should be defined. The demand that the parties should have access to the voters’ list before it is closed and file complaints, if any, to the State Election commission has been accepted as well.  SDSM also demanded that a threshold of votes should be set in the election of the MPs of the diaspora too. VMRO-DPMNE replied that the threshold has to be proportionate to the thre
shold required for winning a parliamentary seat in Macedonia, which they agreed to be 5,500.