VMRO DPMNE party

Work on reforming the media in Macedonia in time for June's early elections appears to have halted, as the EU mediator in the talks on the crisis in Macedonia, Peter Vanhoutte, confirmed that some political parties were uninterested in continuing talks.

Members of the State Election Commission, DIK, say the many inconsistencies in the electoral roll spotted by individuals, the media and political parties since the launch of an app last week will be dealt with before the June 5 early elections.

Bedredin Ibrahimi, a member of the DIK, says there is no cause for panic about the timeframe.

Boskoski, who has spent five years in jail for the illegal financing of his political campaign, became eligible for early release from Tuesday on the basis of good behaviour. 

But it remained unclear if he would get out of jail on time to join the campaign for the pre-term parliamentary elections on June 5, as his release depends on the prison governor's approval.

The scope of a planned "field check" of voters in Macedonia, due to start on Monday, will depend on cross-referencing of voters' data from various state institutions, which should show how many listed voters are "problematic" and need to be checked in person.

Several hundred Macedonian anti-government protesters on Wednesday pelted the Constitutional Court building in Skopje with eggs after judges voted to discuss annulling a provision in the law that bars the President from granting pardons.

They say it will open the way for the President to pardon a number of former senior government officials suspected of organising election fraud.

Macedonians are waiting to see whether parliament on Tuesday uses its last chance before its expected dissolution on Wednesday to postpone elections planned for April 24 on joint EU-US advice.

While the opposition insists that the election date must be pushed back, the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party maintains that there are no credible reasons for postponement.

"Early elections can be scheduled for the end of May or the beginning of June at the earliest, mostly because there is no time to check the electoral roll. The option of moving the election date to September is also on the table," the ambassador of an EU member country told BIRN under condition of anonymity.

EU Ambassador Aivo Orav and US Ambassador Jess Baily said on Friday in Skopje that more work needed to be done before Macedonia faced April elections.

The ruling majority in parliament on Monday verified the resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, voted to dissolve parliament and elected a new government, paving the way for elections on April 24.

Hahn said before his visit that he expects all the overdue issues from the EU-brokered political agreement - including electoral and media reforms - to be resolved during his stay in Skopje.