Interim Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski echoed his leader Zoran Zaev in his call that the April 12 elections be postponed unless laws which the ruling SDSM party wants to see adopted are pushed through Parliament. Spasovski told Telma TV that he still thinks elections will take place on April 12, but that they also might be postponed for a few months. The main excuse SDSM cites now is the law on state prosecutors, which is blocked in Parliament.

We can argue, and we can debate the political issues, the parties are here to compete, but I expect that we have the minimum of consensus on some issues. I believe that the members of Parliament will be up to the task and show personal responsibility and through dialogue achieve consensus on these legal proposals, Spasovski said.

Zaev today raised the issue of cancelling the elections unless the law is adopted. His SDSM party and VMRO-DPMNE are on opposite ends of the law, which should repair the enormous damage caused to the Macedonian judiciary over the past several years, and especially with the major corruption scandals involving SDSM ally Katica Janeva.

For months SDSM insisted that the law is no longer necessary, after they got Janeva to dismantle her SPO office with handwritten orders sent from detention, while charged with abuse of office. But as this improvised and highly controversial move is not seen as legitimate by the expert public, and as EU member states are pushing for a serious solution to the crisis in the judiciary, SDSM is now using these calls to renew its push to get out of the elections. Polls show SDSM trailing behind VMRO-DPMNE and the public attempts to avoid the vote have done little to encourage Zaev’s supporters and activists.