VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski welcomed on Saturday the decision of President Gjorge Ivanov to revoke pardons for 22 politicians.
Speaking in Strumica, the home turf of opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, Gruevski said that Zaev is now the only remaining politician in Macedonia to have received a presidential pardon, over the 2008 "Global" corruption case.
"The decision President Ivanov made earlier was not in line with our activities and so his decision on Friday is a good step which I welcome. It was an excellent decision by President Ivanov and I hope things will continue to move in a good direction after this. Hopefully soon SDSM will also muster courage to take part in new elections", Gruevski said.
President Ivanov pardoned over 50 politicians and their affiliates, both from VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM, over the wiretapping affair and other charges on April 12. After Parliament amended the law on pardons, and following criticism from both parties and from international representatives, President Ivanov revoked 22 of these pardons this week, and also called on all others who want to see their pardons revoked to request it from him.
Gruevski said that following this decision, Zaev remains the only politician who has been pardoned.
In 2008, then President Branko Crvenkovski pardoned Zaev in the pretrial stage of a corruption case against him. Zaev was charged that he, as mayor of Strumica, allowed a company connected with him to build a shopping mall on land that was due to be returned to its rightful owners from pre-Communist times, and that he partnered the city in the deal, damaging the public interest while profiting his business partners to the tune of EUR eight million.
"Now in Macedonia there is no politician that has been pardoned, with the exception of Zoran Zaev. No one else can be maligned of having allegedly performed a crime and avoiding taking responsibility. The only such person is Zaev", Gruevski said.
According to the amended legislation, Zaev has the option to ask Ivanov to revoke this pardon as well.