‘Colorful Revolution’ protesters walk the streets of Skopje on June 20, 2016. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA. Two major demands have been met since protesters started coming out on the streets of Macedonian cities ten weeks ago: a presidential blank pardon to regime politicians has been withdrawn and the government planned ‘one-party’ elections — which only featured their party — have been cancelled. Despite threats from the regime that criminal charges will be brought against them, the protesters are holding their ground and continuing to push for reform. They want the ruling coalition of VMRO-DPMNE and DUI out. The anti-corruption protests in the tiny Balkan land-locked country — dubbed the ‘Colorful Revolution’ — are non-violent, include marches, performances, and lots of color. Armed with paint buckets and water guns, protesters have been splashing paint on structures that symbolize the impunity and poor governance of the ruling regime. The nonviolent movement adopted the name Colorful Revolution, because of the paint and the diversity of the protesters. The movement includes civil society activists, members of the political opposition (from the center, the left and the right), and many politically-unaffiliated citizens from all ethnic backgrounds. The diverse mix of Macedonian citizens are united in their outrage over abuse of power within state institutions. The protests started on April 12, when President Ivanov pardoned all those charged and under investigation, by the newly-established Special Public Prosecutor Office, in a wiretapping scandal that targeted members of the country's opposition. Within a month, the protests spread to 22 cities across Macedonia. In some cities, like Skopje and Bitola, they included almost daily marches and painting. In smaller cities, they were less frequent, but still numerous. During June, other forms of protests were also used, including blockades of crossroads, and protest performances. “The People! Here’s the people, in the streets! By today (May 17) protests have been taken place in record 22 cities: Strumica, Veles, Ohrid, Resen, Kičevo, Kavadarci, Bitola, Prilep, Radoviš, Gevgelija, Štip, Kočani, K. Palanka, Obleševo, Delčevo, Gostivar, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Skopje, Kruševo, Sv. Nikole, Vinica.” From a tweet by @MKColorful. The government of Republic of Macedonia canceled its plan to hold an early election with participation of only the ruling party in June, fulfilling one of the eight demands of the protest movement. The process showed that the combined pressure from the people in the streets, and the other domestic and international factors, can bring about change even within very adverse circumstances. Initially, the State Election Commission (SEC), where ruling parties appointees hold majority, approved the elections on April 16, even though its task to clean the voting registry from phantom voters had not been done. Back then, the SEC estimated that the starting price tag for these elections would have been EUR 7.5 Million (USD 8.34 Million) for their basic expenses. On May 4, the ‘Colorful Revolution’ protest march in Skopje visited the seat of the SEC. Thousands of people marched behind the banner “Dictatorial Electoral Crime!”, and then the protesters lighted flares, and threw paint on the facade of the building. The State Election Office after the ‘Colorful Revolution’ protest on May 4, 2016. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA. Considering that the basic conditions for the elections to be free and fair are not fulfilled, the protesters, the civil society organizations like election observers MOST, the international community, foreign analysts, the political parties in the opposition and also within ruling coalition all took position that such elections should not take place. Attempting to maintain his image of invincibility, the ruling party chief Nikola Gruevski claimed that the one-party elections will take place on June 5, and then, after his party wins, he would also organize new elections with more parties. Lack of pluralism brought back memories of communism, and further mobilized the ‘undecided.’ Some remembered that in the leaked wiretaps, the Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski defined “democracy” as a state when all MPs are from his party. Others re-shared an interview with the president from 2013 in which Gjorge Ivanov praised the unchanging stability resulting from Chinese Communism. “I see, finally we get an efficient Parliament” – a much shared 2009 “Pecko” cartoon by Darko Markovikj, who died on June 9, 2016. Protesters dedicated a march to his memory. However, as daily street protests and other forms of influence continued, the VMRO-DPMNE backed down and canceled this plan through its apparatchiks in the state institutions.