Macedonia opposition resigns seats in parliament

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Lawmakers from Macedonia’s center-left opposition have resigned their seats in parliament after claiming the general elections last month were unfair.

The Social Democrats, who announced the resignations Wednesday, said they would not provide replacements for the 34 seats left vacant in the 123-member parliament or participate in special elections.

The Social Democrats suffered their fourth straight election defeat to rival conservatives in snap polls in April. They claimed Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s conservatives used government influence to interfere in election campaigning, and demanded a caretaker government be formed to hold new elections. Gruevski’s VMRO-DPMNE party rejected the claims.

International monitors said the election was adequately run, but noted they had also received reports of campaign interference.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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