Speaker Talat Xhaferi rejected the idea of postponing the dissolution of Parliament while the election date is kept the same – April 12. This was one of the ideas raised by SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev, who opened the door to postpone the elections or to try and pressure a vote on his draft law for state prosecutors before the Parliament is dissolved.

With elections planned for April 12, the Parliament should dissolve two months before that, and Xhaferi said that there is no room for manoeuvre. SDSM could refuse to vote for the dissolution of Parliament, but that would violate their pledge to go to the polls and the proposal could be adopted anyway by the rest of the Parliament.

There could be independent party lists who need time to collect signatures from voters. There are legally provided deadlines for appeal to the State Electoral Commission. We’ve said we need the minimum of 51 days to hold the elections, but even that would carry risks. What if the computer systems crash? I have to implement the steps as the law provides, Xhaferi said, rejecting the idea to postpone the dissolution of Parliament.

Zaev’s SDSM party is down in the polls and he has tested several excuses to avoid the elections, which were agreed in October, after Zaev failed to secure the date to open EU accession talks. Zaev now says that Macedonia must adopt a new law on state prosecutors (PPO) in order not to endanger its EU chances. There is no two thirds majority in Parliament for his version of the PPO law and Zaev is refusing to accept proposals from the opposition which would mean he too will face scrutiny for his numerous corruption scandals.