Members of the center-left opposition in Macedonia's parliament Wednesday submitted their resignations in protest against what they claim were irregularities in last month's elections.

The SDSM party had won 34 out of 123 parliamentary seats but said after the April 27 snap polls that it would not recognize the result.

Macedonia's new parliament, dominated by the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, was sworn in on Saturday, paving the way for a new government to be formed in the EU-hopeful landlocked Balkan state.

VMRO-DPMNE won 61 of 123 parliamentary seats in the April 27 snap poll, called after it failed to agree with its coalition partner, the ethnic Albanian DUI party, over a joint presidential candidate.

International observers monitoring Macedonia's snap polls this weekend said Monday that "fundamental freedoms" were respected but reported some "shortcomings."

"Yesterday’s elections were effectively administered and election day went smoothly, but there were real problems before and, unfortunately, after the vote," said Christine Muttonen, who led the short-term OSCE observer mission.

Macedonia's ruling conservatives scored a double victory in snap legislative and presidential polls Sunday, officials said, as the opposition cried foul alleging vote fraud.

The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party won 42.27 percent of the votes in the parliamentary election, state electoral commission said, based on more than 50 percent of the count.

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.

Macedonia's ruling conservatives are tipped to cement their grip on power in Sunday's snap election despite a shaky economy and a stalemate in the Balkan country's bid to join the EU.

In tandem with the parliamentary poll, Macedonians will also chose their future president in a run-off between incumbent Gjorge Ivanov of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE and his Social Democrat rival Stevo Pendarovski.

Macedonians voted for a new president Sunday in the polls seen as a test for the ruling party in the landlocked Balkan country and its path towards EU and NATO membership.

The vote for the largely ceremonial presidential post is seen as a bellwether for the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party's prospects in early general elections later this month.

Macedonia will hold early parliamentary elections on April 27 following a dispute within the ruling coalition over presidential polls, state MIA news agency reported Thursday.

Parliamentary speaker Trajko Veljanoski called the snap polls a day after 117 MPs in the 123-seat assembly voted to dissolve parliament.

Prostitutes and other sex workers in Macedonia marched on Tuesday along the central streets of Skopje in a rare public protest, demanding decriminalization of their profession and more rights.

Carrying red umbrellas, a symbol of the global fight for sex workers' rights, about 100 prostitutes and human rights activists marched in silence to call for "respect of rights and better conditions" for prostitutes in the Balkan country.

Macedonian police said Monday they had arrested 17 people on suspicion of spying, among them employees of the country's intelligence service, defense and interior ministries.

Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said an operation to investigate alleged espionage had been under way for two years and those arrested were suspected of espionage, blackmail and extortion.