Thousands gather at leftist opposition rally in Macedonia

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Thousands of people have attended an opposition rally in the Macedonian capital of Skopje to support the leftist main opposition candidate in the country's Dec. 11 election.

Zoran Zaev, 42, leader of the Social Democrat-led leftist coalition that hopes to topple the ruling conservative coalition, has called the election "a choice between doom and life."

The election is taking place two years early after Zaev revealed in 2015 details about a large-scale wiretapping scandal, whose 20,000 alleged targets included politicians, journalists, judges, police and religious leaders. The scandal plunged Macedonia into its worst political crisis since ethnic tensions turned into armed conflict in 2001.

Nearly 1.8 million voters are registered to choose 123 lawmakers among six political parties and five coalitions. The election has been postponed twice this year.