June 8 (SeeNews) - Sticking to the Przino agreement is the way out of the prolonged political crisis and it should be reaffirmed, because it provides a framework for the needed reforms, Germany's special envoy to Macedonia, Johannes Haindl, said on Wednesday.
"First, the parties need to agree on an election date and they need to do what it takes to fulfill the conditions for free and fair elections," Haindl told reporters after completing a two-day visit to Macedonia where he had talks with the president and the leaders of the main parties.
"Second, the country's Special Prosecutor must be able to fulfill her mandate without any obstruction and freely, and, third, the parties need to agree without any delay on implementing the Przino urgent reform priorities and to address the shortcomings identified in the report,” he noted in a brief speech, made available on the website of the German embassy in Macedonia.
The urgent reform priorities report, published last June by the European Commission, includes recommendations for reforms in the rule of law and judiciary, for de-politicisation of public administration, electoral reforms, and increasing of the freedom of expression.
Haindl said he welcomes the president's decision from Monday to fully withdraw his controversial pardons, which deepened the political crisis in the country and fuelled heavy criticism from its western partners.
"This allows now to focus on the implementation of the Przino agreement and of those issues which are key for the future of the country," he said.
The international reaction on the cancelled pardons was throughout positive, whereas protesters from the so-called Colourful revolution continued their rally on the streets asking for the president's impeachment and the resignation of the current government, which was appointed in January with the special task to organise early elections.
The European Commission said on Monday the withdrawal of the pardons allows justice to again run its course and the Special Prosecutor to continue her important work. The Commission also urged the country's leaders to return to the implementation of the Przino agreement saying that they have already lost too much time over the last year.
Macedonia has been locked in a deepening crisis, which started in January 2015 when the leader of opposition SDSM Zoran Zaev accused the coalition government of conservative VMRO-DPMNE and ethnic-Albanian DUI of corruption, wiretapping illegally more than 20,000 people and covering-up a murder. For its part, the government charged Zaev with trying to destabilise the country.
In an attempt to break the political deadlock, the main political parties, with the mediation of the EU and the US, signed the Przino agreement last July, calling early elections for April 24. The polls were later postponed for June 5 under pressure from the EU and the US, which insisted that Macedonia needed more time to meet the international community's requirements for organising credible elections.
However, VMRO DPMNE was the only party that registered candidates for the June 5 vote with the elections committee, while SDSM, DUI and DPA boycotted the elections.
On May 18, Macedonia's parliament cancelled the June 5 vote, without setting a new date.