Elections in the Republic of Macedonia

Some 15,000 people marched through the streets of Skopje on Tuesday, led by the opposition Social Democrats in alliance with the Association of WWII Veterans and other NGOs and prominent activists.

The legal changes failed to pass on Tuesday after only about 30 MPs in the 123-seat parliament, mainly from the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, voted in favour.

Macedonia's main opposition Social Democratic Party, SDSM, has dismissed the list of campaign promises issued by the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party as "lies for little children".

The wiretapped telephone conversations, allegedly containing the voices of Ali Ahmeti, the head of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, and some of his associates, were published by an anonymous source on a Facebook page called Pronto MK.

What are alleged to be the voices of former vice Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi and DUI MP Ermira Mehmeti can also be heard in the recordings.

After Macedonia's main opposition party, the Social Democrats, SDSM hinted that it will discuss at its October 2 party congress ways of combining all opposition forces into one united front against Gruevski's ruling VMRO DPMNE, several smaller parties have said they are interested in the idea of collaboration.

In an interview for the Telegraf news portal published on Wednesday and Thursday, former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski accused the Open Society Foundation - Macedonia for inspiring youngsters to stamp on the platform of his VMRO DPMNE party while chanting, "This government is terrible!"

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday scheduled a session for the following morning to discuss whether the dissolution of parliament ahead of the June 5 polls was unconstitutional because it was carried out incorrectly.

The ruling VMRO DPMNE of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski has denied accusations it is practically suspending political pluralism in Macedonia by insisting on competing in June 5 elections alone.

BELGRADE - Anti and pro-government protests have resumed in FYROM (Macedonia) ahead of elections in June described by the country's President Gjorge Ivanov as the beginning of a "new chapter" for the country - but opposed by Social Democrats, SDSM, who are demanding they should be postponed.

Ethnic Albanian opposition parties in Macedonia are organizing a protest march on May 9 in the northern town of Kumanovo, to mark the first anniversary of the bloody events there that led to the death of 14 citizens and eight policemen.