SKOPJE, April 28 (Hina) - Social Democratic Alliance candidate Branko Crvenkovski won 60 per cent of the vote in Macedonia's presidential elections on Wednesday, according to preliminary results released by his party.
SKOPJE, April 28 (Hina) - Social Democratic Alliance candidate Branko
Crvenkovski won 60 per cent of the vote in Macedonia's presidential
elections on Wednesday, according to preliminary results released by
his party.#L#
The Social Democratic Alliance said that the result was based on one
third of the ballots counted and that voter turnout in the runoff was
56 per cent.
However, the election team of rival VMRO-DPMNE candidate Sasko Kedev
said that the election was a failure as only 44 per cent of the
electorate turned out for the vote.
VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski said that the election was irregular
because at many polling stations, particularly in western Macedonia,
groups of supporters of the Democratic Union for Integration exerted
pressure on VMRO-DPMNE monitors and cast a large number of ballots for
Crvenkovski, in some cases even threatening to use guns. This prompted
the party to demand that the Central Electoral Commission annul the
vote.
Objections of this kind were also registered by the non-governmental
organisation "Most", and some citizens complained that someone else
had voted for them.
The Social Democrats dismissed the accusations describing them as a
scenario prepared by the rival party in case its candidate lost in
elections.
Official preliminary results were expected to be released by the
Central Electoral Commission after midnight.
(Hina) vm