North Macedonia Party Accused of Playing With COVID Restrictions

The decision of the government of North Macedonia to scrap movement restrictions, starting Wednesday, and gradually reopen cafes on Thursday, has drawn criticism that the move is driven mainly by the ruling party's quest for early elections rather than being based on real assessments of the health situation.

After the provisional government in which the Social Democrats, SDSM, have the main say passed the decision, the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party repeated its demand for elections to be held later rather than sooner, insisting that the country is not out of the woods when it comes to the coronavirus, and that holding elections soon could increase the risk.

"Opinion polls say that more than 70 per cent of citizens are against swift elections in June. Health must be a priority for responsible politicians. People will recognize those who work in their interests, and those who work for their own personal and party interests," VMRO DPMNE warned in a press release.

After 66 days since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed, and two months into a state of emergency and movement restrictions, the government on Tuesday scrapped the provision for daily 7pm curfews and said it would gradually reopen cafes and restaurants.

This move came as the Social Democrats and their VMRO DPMNE rivals remained in a state of deadlock over a date for the early elections.

While the Social Democrats under Zoran Zaev want early elections held on June 21 or 28, saying that they should be held at the earliest possible date, so the country can get a new government and a functioning parliament to tackle the problems ahead, the VMRO DPMNE party under Hristijan Mickoski insists on a later date, citing health concerns.

The Social Democrats came out on Wednesday...