SDSM

Zaev resigned VIDEO

He resigned due to the debacle in the second round of local elections.
"I take responsibility for the results of these elections and resign from the Prime Minister and the President of the SDSM," SDSM leader Zoran Zaev said tonight.

Tensions With BESA Threaten Macedonia's Social Democrats

Macedonia's main ruling party, the Social Democrats, and the ethnic Albanian BESA party have exchanged a series of mutual accusations and warnings.

The dispute erupted after the Social Democrats, the SDSM, decided to openly support BESA's bitter Albanian rivals in the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, in the October 15 local elections.

Macedonia's Conservatives Narrowly Winning Election

VMRO-DPMNE party, which has dominated Macedonian politics since 2006, has a 1.24% lead on socialist rival SDSM in Sunday's election, official results show.

With nearly all the vote counted, the party of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has got 37.98% of the vote.

Support for SDSM of Zoran Zaev is at 36.74%, according to the Central Election Commission (DIK)'s website.

Macedonia Braces for Protests Against President's Pardon

Civil associations and opposition parties led by the Social Democratic Party, SDSM, announced protests for Wednesday and Thursday following the President's surprise decision to pardon all politicians under investigation.

"This decision represents a classic breach of the legal system of the country," SDSM leader Zoran Zaev said on Wednesday, calling on people to join mass protests.

Macedonia PM Accused of Large-Scale Wire-Tapping

Top politicians, opposition leaders, NGO activists, journalists, businessmen, top academics, religious leaders and members of the judiciary have been subjected to widespread surveillance ordered by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and secret police chief Saso Mijalkov, the opposition Social Democratic Party, SDSM, claimed on Monday.