Macedonia Ruling Party Set to Stand by Gruevski

Macedonia's ruling VMRO DPMNE says the fact that some of its top officials, including its leader, are under criminal investigations, need not prevent those persons from running in the December 11 general election.

Officially, the party says consultations about its list of candidates are still ongoing and that they have yet to decide whether to name Gruevski as the frontrunner.

 "The crucial thing for us at this moment is to choose the best candidates and the people who enjoy most support," the chief of VMRO DPMNE's communications centre, Ilija Dimovski, said.

But, unofficially, a source from the VMRO DPMNE presidency told BIRN under condition of anonymity that Gruevski will almost certainly be leading the party list in the first district, which covers the capital, Skopje.

"I see it only as natural that our leader participates as frontrunner. Speculation and insinuations about his alleged wrongdoings aside, the voters will tell best [in the elections] whether they believe he is indeed guilty of such grave crimes," the source said.

"These people, including our president Gruevski, are innocent until proven otherwise," the same source added.

For the purpose of general elections, Macedonia is divided into six electoral districts, each contributing 20 MPs to the 123-seat parliament. Thus, each party offers six lists of 20 candidates, one for each electoral district.

Three more MPs are elected from the votes of the diaspora.

Gruevski, who was Prime Minister from 2006 until he resigned earlier this year under an EU-brokered deal, is in the centre of a deep political crisis, after being accused of masterminding the illegal surveillance of over 20,000 people.

In September 15, the Special Prosecution...