Macedonia's Opposition MPs Resign from Parliament

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.

The SDSM called for an interim government to be formed until new elections could be held.

SDSM leader Zoran Zaev also said the party would not provide replacements nor take part in partial elections for the vacant seats.

The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, which won a majority of seats in the election, has rejected the SDSM's accusations.

While electoral officials said there were no irregularities that could have affected the result, international observers registered "shortcomings" during and after the vote.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) warned of a "blurring of state and party activities and biased and unbalanced media coverage in favor of the ruling party" before and during the polls.

In Macedonia if vacant seats in the parliament are not filled, new partial elections should be held, but it is yet unclear when and how they would be called.