Macedonia's main opposition coalition will not have an absolute majority in parliament after its victory in weekend elections, an electoral commission spokesman said today.
The 10-party Together for Macedonia coalition, led by the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) of moderate ex-communist Mr Branko Crvenkovski, will have 60 deputies in the 120-seat parliament, commission spokesman Mr Zoran Tanevski told reporters.
The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE grouping under outgoing Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski will have 33 and the main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), won the third-largest mandate with 16 seats.
Three smaller ethnic Albanian parties totalled 10 seats, with the remaining seat going to another minor Macedonian party.
The parties would have another 48 hours for possible appeals on the results, Mr Tanevski said late this evening, as several parties have alleged that there were irregularities in the ballot.
After the results are fully confirmed, the Macedonian parliament must convene within 20 days, after which President Boris Trajkovski will have 10 days to appoint a prime minister.
There is still no indication of the shape of the new government.
AFP