Macedonia braced for huge anti-government protest

Thousands of protesters are due to take part in a rally in the Macedonian capital Skopje to demand the resignation of long-serving Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

This is reported by Corruption.info citing BBC .

The rally follows months of allegations that he has abused his power.

Covert recordings released by the opposition appear to show ministers plotting vote-rigging and the covering-up of a murder.

Last week two ministers and the head of the intelligence service resigned.

Opposition leaders said intelligence chief Saso Mijalkov and Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska were behind attempts to control the press, judiciary and electoral officials by tapping their phones.

However, the government denies the allegations and insists the opposition is trying to destabilise the country for its own benefit. It is organising a counter-demonstration on Monday.

The political instability comes as the country wrestles with the aftermath of clashes last weekend between ethnic Albanians and police.

Fourteen ethnic Albanians and eight police officers were killed in fighting that followed a police raid on an ethnic Albanian neighbourhood in the northern town of Kumanovo.

Ethnic Albanians make up one quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population.