TV 21 reports that nearly all officials from the ruling SDSM party used vehicles provided by the Government to attend party business.

SDSM held an inconclusive meeting on Friday evening to decide whether to accept the challenge from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party and agree to holding early general elections in April/May. TV 21 journalist Furkan Saliu posted a video of the luxury public vehicles parading in front of the SDSM office, as evidence of mass abuse of office.

SDSM used the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which was staffed with prosecutors close to the party, to prosecute former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski merely for the purchase of an armored Mercedes vehicle which is still in use when high ranking foreign officials such as Angela Merkel visit Macedonia.

The money for the vehicle were not embezzled and in an attempt to meet the legal criteria and show that Gruevski had some gain from the purchase, the SPO insisted that his gain was in being driven in the vehicle a number of times. Gruevski received political asylum in Hungary when presenting the way in which the charges against him were set up and the trial was conducted.