Former Prime Minister, MP Nikola Gruevski, informed Saturday in a Facebook post that he resigns from his seat in Parliament.

The strategy of SDSM is visible in its everyday failures, crime, mass corruption, numerous unfulfilled promises, nepotism, and a myriad of other weaknesses trying to conceal them by imposing false information and theses with an obvious further obsession with me.

In the past, SDSM did not save money and other resources in the direction and goals of my denigration, belittling and creating a false image of untrue things, such as that I was the prime minister who was against the EU, against NATO, against the Albanians in Macedonia, or that I had embezzled people’s money, going to that extent with lies that I was convicted of corruption. They hired dozen independent analysts, journalists, editors and other propagandists to appear in the media, most of them in one way or another secretly or openly paid precisely with people’s money with the sole task of spreading false propaganda against me and against VMRO-DPMNE.

This is mostly due to the fear that after 10 electoral defeats from us, but also their dishonest attitude towards the people expressed, for example, through swearing that they will not change the name and the constitution even though they knew that that’s why they are installed in power, the everyday racketeering of companies and the private sector, the debacle in the economy, visible corruption, obvious nepotism and dishonest work.

The last topic for which they do not save money to do false propaganda against me and against VMRO-DPMNE, is the lie that as a political asylum seeker and because of political persecution, issued by an EU and NATO member state, due to their persecution as a ruling party which delivers judgments through the controlled judiciary and the prosecutor’s office, I was unjustifiably absent in the last six months.

It is clear that this is not true and I am grateful that VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs very precisely and professionally, refusing to succumb to the pressures of the SDSM propaganda, explained that according to the most famous document of the UN – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the asylum is listed as one of the basic human rights, and it is not possible for anyone to be unjustifiably absent from parliament sessions if he is forced to use political asylum, which since 1948 has been rated by the UN as a human right, and which document was adopted by the Macedonian Parliament.

Also, the MPs very clearly explained that even when someone was unjustifiably absent, the constitution in article 65 leaves the right to elect MPs to vote in regard to revoking the mandate, and, the vote will not be contrary to the constitution because it is not by chance that the constitution uses the word “may” instead of “must,” or “should,” to revoke the mandate.

It is perfectly clear to both them and the public that whatever their vote is they will not violate the constitution, but if they vote for revoking the mandate they will violate the “international law” that treats asylum in Article 14 of the document as a basic human right.

The obsession with me made the government hastily and hysterically change laws, the rules of procedure of parliament and the usual practice of working in parliament just to satisfy their personal frustrations, complexes and obsession with me to the extent of “nightmare”, as well as the need for false propaganda to hide their disastrous and non-national policies. They have reached the level to forbid the secretary in parliament to report me as justifiably absent.

But that did not help either, because whatever they change they cannot change or reject the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor change the constitution, and even if they change it, it should be applied retroactively.

The goal of legally stripping me off my mandate is clear that it is not possible. And according to the constitution of Macedonia and according to international regulations, but also according resistance from the MPs of VMRO-DPMNE for not succumbing to the pressures and propaganda of the commission for mandatory immunity issues, and giving a lesson in international law and constitutional law to their colleagues from the government who, in the absence of arguments, reduced the debate to a “neighbourhood discussion on politics on a bench in front of a building”.

However, although the law, the constitution and the international documents are on my side, I will not allow our party and lawmakers to be exposed to any pressure, false propaganda, inconvenience and media lynching for me and my mandate by the government and its apologists. I do not want to give SDSM the opportunity to use this topic to avoid the debates about the essential issues and problems that affect the people and to hide their criminal policies. Hence, I decided to resign from the seat in Parliament and I will inform the Parliament about my decision in the coming days.

I thank the MPs of VMRO-DPMNE who have endured the principled positions that are in accordance with the constitution and international law and did not succumb to the pressures. Special thanks to the thousands of citizens who in various ways, through personal contacts or through social networks in the past days, gave me a huge support despite all the pressures and injustices, despite all false propaganda and personal risks, have shown that the sense of justice and fairness, resistance, and rebellion against injustice, remains the guiding force for the Macedonian people and citizens, as well as the installed government to promote different and opposite values, Gruevski said in a lengthy post.