Macedonia's
interior and transport ministers, as well as its intelligence chief, have
resigned following a weekend raid which left eight police officers dead. The
government is also under fire over illegal wiretapping.
Prime
Minister Nikola Gruevski accepted the resignations of his interior and
transport ministers and his intelligence chief Tuesday, ahead of a large
anti-government rally over series of scandals involving top officials, set for
Sunday.
In recent
months, Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska and intelligence chief Saso
Mijalkov both stirred criticism from the opposition over their alleged
involvement in illegal wiretapping and parallel structures inside the security
forces.
The
country's transport minister Mile Janakieski also quit on Tuesday.
The three
top officials were among Gruevski's closest allies inside the government, and
had been part of the administration since his party took power in 2006.
Mijalkov, director of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence,
is also the prime minister's cousin.
Truth 'at
our side'
In his
letter of resignation, Mijalkov said he was stepping down to help in overcoming
the current political crisis, which he claims was imposed by the opposition. He
added that he was "aware that the truth and arguments are on our
side," and that he would always be "at the frontlines" for his
homeland.
Jankuloska
and Janakieski also cited the political crisis as a reason for their
resignations.
Political
and ethnic tensions
The cabinet
reshuffle follows a bloody shootout in the northern city of Kumanovo over the
weekend, which claimed the lives of eight police officers and 14 alleged
Albanian terrorists. The raid heightened fears of ethnically charged conflict
in the former Yugoslav republic.
Almost one
third of the 2.1 million people living in Macedonia are ethnic Albanians, and
distrust between the groups runs deep, even with Albanians represented in the
government.
Some of
Gruevski's opponents claim he orchestrated the incident in order to distract
the public from allegations of corruption.
NATO, which
helped diffuse the 2001 Albanian insurgency, has called for restraint and a
"transparent investigation" of this latest incident.
On Monday,
EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said the attack should not distract
attention from Macedonia's "very serious internal political
situation" or be used "to introduce ethnic tensions."
The
parliament is set to discuss replacements for the two ministers on Wednesday.
dj/cmk (MIA, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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