Awwal 11, 1432 / April 15, 2011, SPA -- Macedonia's parliamentary speaker formally scheduled an early parliamentary election for June 5 on Friday, a move aimed at resolving a political deadlock complicating its European Union integration goals, according to Reuters. Outgoing speaker Trajko Veljanovski's decision to call an election a year ahead of schedule came a day after lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament at the request of the ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party that came to power in 2006 and also won a 2008 early election. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who leads VMRO-DPMNE, has faced political turmoil in the poor Balkan country since the beginning of the year when opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament in protest against a court decision to freeze the accounts of a pro-opposition TV station and three newspapers under tax fraud investigation. The main opposition Social Democrats said the investigation was politically motivated. Western diplomats have expressed concern the crisis might hamper Macedonia's efforts to join the EU and NATO and they have called on all parties involved to do everything possible to ensure a fair and democratic election.
