Mile Janakieski

The Criminal Court in Skopje has until Thursday to answer complaints filed by Macedonia's Special Prosecution over the Court's decision last Friday to leave ministers suspected of election fraud at liberty.

The eight suspects, including two former ministers, were questioned about fraud allegations over the weekend but left the court as free people.

The three officials, who are among those most implicated in the mass wiretapping that was revealed in February by the opposition, were proposed as the first witnesses to give evidence by MPs on the commission from Gruevski's ruling VMRO DPMNE party.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on Tuesday said that conditions were not ripe for a fresh round of crisis talks in Macedonia.

The opposition responded that he was not in a position to command the dynamic of the internationally brokered talks.

Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats on Friday presented fresh wiretapped conversations, which they say show that the Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, was the hidden architect of the state-funded revamp of the capital, known as Skopje 2014.

They also presented tapes that they say show government ministers and senior officials' on a property-buying spree in Skopje.

Speaking on a stage in front of the government headquarters in Skopje, opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev said he expected the crisis over the illegal surveillance scandal in Macedonia to end soon with the aid of international mediation.

Andonovski was appointed the new head of Macedonia's intelligence agency, the UBK, on Tuesday at a government session.

He was the former head of the Skopje branch of the secret police. His resume says he has worked in the police since 1987.

Opposition Social Democrats, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev told a press conference on Friday that after the planned mass rally, a non-stop sit-in protest will maintain the pressure on Gruevski and his government.

The Macedonian Parliament approved on Wednesday the reshuffles in the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, which were necessitated after the resignations of the interior and transport ministers.

Macedonian MPs on Wednesday backed the appointment of a new Interior Minister, Mitko Cavkov, who was head of the Public Security Bureau, and a new Transportation Minister, Vlado Misajlovski, who headed the state roads enterprise.

The vote was held in the absence of the opposition MPs who have boycotted parliament since the April elections, which they say were conducted fraudulently.

Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, Transport and Communications Minister Mile Janakieski and the Director of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK) Saso Mijalkov all resigned on Tuesday evening.

Their resignations come at a time of heightened political tensions in Macedonia.