Macedonia lawmakers back expelling ex-PM from parliament

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Lawmakers in Macedonia have backed a court request to expel from parliament former conservative prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who is facing imprisonment on corruption-related charges.

A parliamentary committee voted Wednesday to recommend that lawmakers revoke Gruevski’s parliamentary mandate. The 48-year-old politician served as prime minister from 2006 to 2016 and is currently a parliament member of the main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.

The motion would require a two-thirds majority in the 120-seat parliament to be approved.

Gruevski was sentenced in May to two years in prison for unlawfully influencing officials at the Interior Ministry over the purchase of a luxury vehicle at an estimated cost of 600,000 euros ($680,000).

He has appealed the decision and has requested that the prison sentence be deferred, citing parliamentary duties.