Macedonia Calls Off June 2016 Parliament Poll

Macedonia's June election has been postponed after the constitutional court moved to halt electoral activities, amid intense pressure at home and abroad.

Opposition parties have boycotted the election because of prolonged political turmoil that has rocked the former Yugoslav republic.

The court declared the dissolution of parliament unconstitutional.

Parliament then reconvened and agreed to cancel the vote.

All 96 members of the parliament agreed to cancel the June 5 vote, but did not discuss a new date for the elections.

Earlier on Wednesday May 18,2016, Macedonia's top court suspended all activities regarding the election until it could decide whether the dissolution of the parliament in April  2016 was in line with the country's constitution.

Macedonia has been politically unstable since February 2015, when the opposition accused Nikola Gruevski, prime minister at the time, and the country's intelligence chief of wiretapping over 20,000 people, including judges and journalists. The scandal exposed the government's tight control over the press and the conduct of elections.
The controversy peaked in April 2016, when President George Ivanov pardoned 56 officials blamed for wire-tapping.