Skopje burns over wiretapping affair: President hit with eggs, police cordons breached

The decision of Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov to halt the investigation into the wiretapping affair, revealed in 2015, has sparked protests on the streets of Skopje hours after its announcement, and demonstrators on Tuesday evening threw eggs at his office, and attempted to breach police cordons around the headquarters of the ruling Macedonian party VMRO-DPMNE, reports the Patria News Agency. 

Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev stated at protests on Tuesday evening that he rejects the pardon and demanded the withdrawal of the decision to pardon those suspected in the wiretapping affair, which he called "absurd." He called for Ivanov's resignation, stating that he had committed a coup d'état by abandoning the investigation. 

President Ivanov announced a general amnesty on Tuesday for all individuals suspected in the wiretapping scandal that caused a political crisis in the country in 2015. 

In February 2015, Zaev accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping journalists, clergy, and opposition leaders, a total of over 20,000 people. Under Western pressure, Nikola Gruevski's ruling VMRO party and Zoran Zaev's opposition Social Democrats, along with the two leading Albanian parties, agreed on early elections to be held on June 5 to resolve the dangerous political deadlock.

The opposition has boycotted parliament since the elections two years ago, claiming they were rigged because VMRO controls the media and the economy, which is largely state-owned. 

Gruevski, who officially resigned in January, had been in power since 2006, and Macedonia is currently led by a technical government, writes Hina.