Conservatives hold slim lead in Macedonia election

Nearly complete results in Macedonia's national election gave the conservative coalition a slim lead over its left-wing rival early today, though no bloc appeared headed to winning a parliamentary majority on its own.
The election was called two years early as part of a Western-brokered agreement to end a paralysing political crisis in Macedonia, which gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
With 98 per cent of polling stations reporting, the conservative coalition led by former prime minister Nikola Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party had 37.94 per cent of the vote, while the leftist coalition headed by opposition leader Zoran Zaev's Social Democrats had 36.63 per cent.

Supporters of both big parties were in the streets claiming victory in yesterday's balloting, which saw voter turnout at 67 per cent, one of the highest in recent general elections in Macedonia.
The state electoral commission's website, which crashed for an extended period before being restored about 3 am (0100 local time) today, did not give seat projections, but it was certain that neither of the two main coalitions would end up with a majority of seats.
That will make the country's ethnic Albanian parties necessary coalition partners, with probably more than one needed to form a stable government.

An ethnic Albanian party that usually allies with Gruevski, the Democratic Union for Integration, led by former guerrilla commander Ali Ahmeti, had 7.33 per cent of the vote.

In an unexpected showing, Besa, a new Albanian party formed in 2014, was second at 4.94 per cent. The Democratic Party of Albanians, which had been expected to finish second, was pushed into fourth behind Besa and another new party, the Alliance for Albanians.
VMRO-DPMNE supporters celebrated in front of the party headquarters in downtown Skopje, the capital.
Addressing his supporters, Gruevski declared victory: "From 88.6 per cent of counted votes, we are in the lead with 440,000 votes over the Social Democrats with 415,000 votes.
This is the 10th electoral victory for VMRO and the majority of the people gave the vote to our programme and vision."

Activists in the opposition coalition, however, claimed their projections pointed to a victory by their side and gathered in celebration outside the main government building.
Nearly 1.8 million registered voters were eligible to choose 123 lawmakers for the single-chamber parliament. Three seats are reserved for Macedonians living abroad.
Gruevski, who headed the government since 2006 before resigning as part of the deal to hold early elections, sought a new mandate. His leads a 25-party coalition called For a Better Macedonia.