Macedonia constitutional court annuls parliament dissolution

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia’s constitutional court has ruled that a decision to dissolve parliament to pave the way for early general elections was unconstitutional, and has formally annulled the move.

Wednesday’s decision formalizes the suspension of plans to hold the elections on June 5.

Last week, the court temporarily halted all election activities following a request filed with the court by the ethnic Albanian junior coalition partner in the current government to examine whether the dissolution of parliament was unconstitutional. Macedonia’s parliament then voted to delay the elections for an indefinite period.

Macedonia has been in political turmoil since February 2015 following a wiretapping scandal, and the early election was part of an internationally brokered deal aimed at defusing the crisis.