Conservatives Tipped to Win as Macedonia Holds Snap Polls

Macedonians trickled to the polls Sunday to elect a new assembly and president, with the ruling conservatives tipped to cement their hold on power despite widespread poverty and a stalemate in Skopje's bid to join the EU.

The legislative vote is being held a year ahead of schedule after the ruling VMRO-DPMNE failed to agree with its ethnic Albanian coalition partner, the DUI, on a joint presidential candidate.

Voters were also casting ballots in the run-off for president, a largely ceremonial post with a five-year mandate, pitting incumbent Gjorge Ivanov of the VMRO-DPMNE against his Social Democrat rival Stevo Pendarovski.

Electoral officials said turnout was 9.58 percent three hours after polling stations opened at 0500 GMT.

More than 1.7 million voters will elect a new 123-seat parliament choosing between 14 parties and coalitions.

Opinion polls have given a strong lead to both Ivanov and the VMRO-DPMNE.

The ruling party hopes to increase its tally in parliament to 62 seats out of 123 and enable its leader Nikola Gruevski to secure a third term as prime minister of Macedonia, an EU candidate since 2005.

"We need a majority so nobody can blackmail us and we can keep up with a program ... that would lead Macedonia into the EU and NATO," Gruevski said at the final rally Friday.

In the outgoing assembly, Gruevski's party had just 55 seats, which forced them into a coalition with several minor parties to ensure majority backing in parliament.

The conservative party is expected this time to take some 28 percent of the vote against 15 percent for the opposition Social Democrats (SDSM).

During the campaign, Gruevski urged voters to back his measures to revive Macedonia's ailing economy, which showed signs of recovery last year when it posted 3.1 percent output growth.

With unemployment above 28 percent in the country of two million where the average monthly salary stands at just 350 euros ($480), ordinary Macedonians remain gloomy about their prospects.

"The time has come for a change in our country, but it will be very difficult and I do not have much hope," said housewife Elena Nikolovska.

Pensioner Milica Stevcevska complained of "extremely high living costs."

"Poverty is everywhere, pensions are so low and life so expensive, I would not be able to survive without the help from my son."

The opposition have accused Gruevski of turning a blind eye to corruption and pressures on the media.

"Macedonia's choice is between the right to a better life or continuous state robbery," opposition leader Zoran Zaev charged during the campaign.

But worker Stevan Pocev said he had confidence in the ruling party to "lead the country in a good direction."

"If they are given another mandate, I expect they will solve the unemployment problem and improve living standards for the citizens," he said ahead of the vote.

One of the main tasks for the new government will be to kickstart Macedonia's integration into the EU and NATO, blocked for years over a name dispute with neighboring Greece.

Greece has a northern province also called Macedonia, and the two countries have been at loggerheads over the right to use the name ever since the former Yugoslav republic proclaimed independence in 1991.

The row has hampered Macedonia's efforts to join both NATO and the EU despite mediation attempts by the United Nations have.

Analysts say Skopje can either strike an unpopular deal with Greece or risk continued economic and political damage.

Of the parties representing ethnic Albanians, about a quarter of Macedonia's population, the Democratic Union for Integration enjoys the support of about seven percent.

Relations between ethnic Albanians and the Macedonian majority have been strained since a seven-month armed conflict in 2001 between government forces and Albanian guerrillas seeking more rights.

The conflict ended with an internationally-brokered peace accord in August 2001 that gave the ethnic Albanian community more political rights.

More than 10,000 observers are monitoring the vote. Preliminary results are expected early Monday.