Winner of North Macedonia’s parliamentary election to seek governing coalition partner

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES
Associated Press

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — The head of a center-right 22-party coalition that emerged victorious in North Macedonia’s parliamentary election has fallen just short of gaining a parliamentary majority, leaving it reliant on entering a partnership with another party to form a government. The “Your Macedonia” coalition led by Hristijan Mickoski won just over 43% of the votes in Wednesday’s election, giving it 58 of the country’s 120 parliamentary seats, three fewer than an outright majority, official results showed. Mickoski is expected to start seeking a governing partner as early as Thursday. The parliamentary vote was held simultaneously with a runoff for the country’s presidential election, which saw the victory of North Macedonia’s first female president in a double win for the center-right backed opposition.