Page 13 - bne_newspaper_December_08_2017

Southeast Europe
December 8, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
End of an era as Macedonian VMRO- DPMNE leader Gruevski announces his resignation
Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje
The leader of Macedonia’s main opposition
party VMRO-DPMNE, ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski, has announced his plans to resign soon as party leader.
Gruevski was seen by many as an authoritarian leader. His resignation will open the way for restructuring and democratisation within the party. Its many members, particularly those employed in the public administration, served as useful bodies to attend rallies and protests, but their opinion was never heard.
As prime minister, Gruevski was the central figure in Macedonian politics from 2006 to 2016, and as his rule progressed VMRO consolidated its hold on power in the country. He was finally ousted as part of an EU and US brokered agreement between gov- ernment and opposition, and VMRO’s new position in opposition was confirmed by its poor showing in the recent local elections which dashed any hopes of the party making a speedy return to power.
The new government led by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) in coalition with the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) has promised to led the country to the EU and Nato membership, processes which were stalled during the decade of rule by VMRO.
Gruevski said ahead of the October 15 local election that he would step down if VMRO didn’t win. In the event, it suffered a devastating defeat,
winning only five mayor posts compared to the 57 taken by the governing SDSM.
“Regardless of the outcome of the election analy- sis, even if it finds that objectively my responsibil- ity for the defeat was small or none, I will tender my resignation to the party’s bodies,” Gruevski said in an interview with news portal Kurir, posted on the party’s website on December 1.
“The party, according to the statute, will hold an extraordinary congress, during which, besides the report on the election analysis, the new party’s leader will be elected,” Gruevski said.
He did not specify when he will submit his resignation, but said that “another week or
two are probably needed for analysis, but the resignation may not be necessarily related to its completion, as it is not related to its outcome.”
The party’s executive committee may hold a session on December 4, according to broadcaster Alsat-M, but the information has not been officially confirmed.
Gruevski’s announcement came a few days after the public prosecutor’s office charged 36 people, including six VMRO MPs and other high-profile Macedonians, for their role in violent incidents in the parliament at the end of April, in which 100 people were injured.
The VMRO leader said he hopes that his resignation will help stabilise the political climate in the country.