Macedonia names caretaker PM ahead of early poll
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawmakers in Macedonia have approved conservative politician Emil Dimitriev as caretaker prime minister following a Western-brokered deal to resolve a political crisis triggered by a wiretapping scandal.
Late Monday, parliament approved Dimitriev, a senior member of the governing VMRO-DPMNE party, ahead of early elections on April 24. It also voted to dissolve the assembly on Feb. 24 — midway through its four-year term.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski stepped down last week as part of the agreement brokered with the assistance of the European Union and U.S.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The crisis stemmed from allegations the government illegally wire-tapped 20,000 people, including police, judges, and foreign diplomats.
The opposition Social Democrats say the April election date is too early to allow an investigation of potential election-register anomalies and implement agreed upon reforms in the news media.