Macedonia parliament votes against impeaching president

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia’s parliament has rejected a call from the opposition to open impeachment procedures against President Gjorge Ivanov following weeks of street protests against him.

Following a weeklong debate, lawmakers on Tuesday failed to reach the required number of votes to back the procedure at the country’s constitutional court.

The opposition Social Democrats had demanded impeachment following Ivanov’s controversial decision to pardon dozens of top politicians facing corruption charges — a move that triggered the street protests and international condemnation.

The pardons were eventually cancelled.

The demand in parliament was also supported by a junior partner in the governing conservative coalition, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration.