Protests broke out in the capital Skopje on December 24, when opposition MPs tried to block the parliamentary debate on the 2013 budget and were expelled from the chamber.
After the incident, Branko Crvenkovski - leader of the largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) - announced that his party would participate in local elections scheduled for March only if electoral rolls were revised. He also said the elections must be held according to the standards of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The opposition would also likely boycott the local elections unless they are carried out by an interim government, Serbia's B92 news site reported.
SDSM claims that on 24 December, “democracy was suspended” in Macedonia, accusing the police of forcefully removing opposition MPs and some journalists from Parliament.
SDSM, an associate member of the Party of European Socialists, also claims that the budget was adopted in an “unlawful and illegal procedure”.
Opposition leaders also denounced what they call the authoritarian drift of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the arrest of some political opponents and crackdowns on independent news outlets. They say the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party has also influenced civil society groups - charges the government denies.
In his New Year address, Gruevski called on the opposition to return to Parliament and take part in the local elections.
Belarus in the Balkans?
Meanwhile, SDSM accused the international community of overlooking what it sees as a democratic reversal in recent months.
This year will be a “year to make or break democracy in Macedonia”, says an opposition statement, obtained by EurActiv. “Democracy, constitutionality and rule of law will be restored, or the country will look more like Belarus than an EU candidate country,” the statement reads.
SDSM blames the government for spending public money in a non-transparent manner for populist projects, such as media campaigns and building of monuments for the Skopje 2014 urban renewal project. The construction of a huge statue of a ‘Warrior on horseback’ resembling Alexander the Great has recently infuriated Greece.
Representatives of several print and electronic media outlets expressed their outrage on 27 December by loudly booing Parliament President Trakjo Veljanovski as he attempted to open a parliamentary session. The heckling protest is believed to be the first of its kind by the media in the 20-year history of the state, the website Southeast European Times reported.
