Akhir 25, 1432 H/March 30, 2011, SPA-- Macedonia is to hold early elections on June 5 following a protracted political stalemate, dpa quoted Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski as saying Wednesday in Skopje. Gruevski, who leads the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, said earlier that the parliament, boycotted for months by the opposition, would be dissolved on March 31. VMRO and the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, had been negotiating about the date for a snap poll for weeks. The Social Democrats have accused the government of cracking down on critical media and have voiced concern on whether the elections would be fair. Meanwhile, the ruling party also came into conflict with its coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, one of several stemming from the country's sizeable ethnic Albanian minority. Opinion polls again give VMRO a clear advantage over its rivals.
