a minute agoMacedonian Parliament strips Gruevski of immunity
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Macedonia's Parliament approved the Criminal Court's request for MP Nikola Gruevski's detention Tuesday evening. That means lifting MP immunity. 62 parliamentary majority lawmakers voted for it, while no party deputy V MRO- The opposition DPMNE, former Prime Minister Gruevski's party, was not present at the plenary session. In fact, the session [...]
However, Mr. Gruevski holds the MP's mandate and receives a monthly salary, though for any lack of hearings, with a 5 per cent reduction. Parliament failed a few days ago to lift the MP's mandate because it failed to secure two-thirds of the votes needed for this. Parliament now has to spend six months in order to establish a new initiative to remove Gruevski's mandate.
Meanwhile, no one in Skopje has yet claimed responsibility for the escape of Nikola Gruevski, who had been sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. Authorities say they are investigating how he escaped and who helped them. Of course, the former Macedonian prime minister would have had the support of security structures for realising his goal, according to analysts, while the Macedonian government dismissed speculation about a secret political agreement with Nikola Gruevski.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is known for his friendship with Nikola Gruevski, has expressed gratitude for the former head of government in Skopje “for his role in halting refugee waves from the Middle East, thus helping Hungary”. Orban has said Tuesday in his country's parliament that he had not met, nor did he have time to meet with Mr. Gruevski.
The former Macedonian prime minister was sentenced to two years in prison for exercising influence in an illegal tender for the purchase of a luxury Mercedes armoured car with a total of about 600 thousand euros.
