SKOPJE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- North Macedonia's Parliament formally approved on Tuesday former prime minister Nikola Gruevski's resignation from his MP seat, local media reported on Tuesday.
Gruevski fled his country last November and was granted political asylum in Hungary.
According to Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, Gruevski's resignation letter was received by Parliament on June 5.
On May 29, the Committee on Mandatory-Immunity Issues of the Parliament of North Macedonia voted to strip fugitive MP Gruevski of his parliamentary mandate in his absence on the grounds that he was unjustifiably absent for over six months.
In an announcement on Facebook, Gruevski said that he would resign from his MP seat before the vote in Parliament.
The former prime minister claims that his absence is "justified" because he was "persecuted and forced to seek asylum," citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that political asylum has been listed as a human right since 1948.
In October last year, a court in North Macedonia found Gruevski guilty of using his office for personal gain and influencing officials in purchase of a new Mercedes vehicle in 2012 for more than 600,000 euros (681,000 U.S. dollars) and sentenced him to two years in prison in the case codenamed "Tank".
On Nov. 13, 2018, North Macedonia's authorities confirmed that Gruevski had fled to Hungary, where he was granted political asylum on Nov. 20.
Gruevski was prime minister between 2006 and 2016, representing the conservative right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party.
