Macedonia votes hoping to end political crisis

Macedonians voted Sunday in the hope of electing a government capable of returning stability to the small Balkan country that has been shaken by a deep political crisis. Polling stations closed at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) and the counting of votes begun, an electoral commission spokeswoman told AFP.
"What do I expect? I expect this agony to end," 55-year-old Zoran Milevski told AFP after he cast his ballot at a school-turned-polling station in central Skopje.
The vote was called as part of a European Union-brokered deal between Macedonia's four main political parties after a mass wiretapping scandal erupted in February 2015 and sparked rival street protests.
No major incidents were reported during the day, electoral officials said, although observers warned of irregularities including unauthorised voter registration at several polling stations. Some voters reportedly faced pressure over who to vote for and local media said there were also attempts to bribe voters, but this was not confirmed.
Voters' photos appear next to their names on lists to limit fraud, a State Electoral Commission member told AFP.
Two hours before the end of voting the turnout was around 60 percent - seven percent more than at the same time in the last parliamentary elections two years ago.
Wiretapping allegations led Nikola Gruevski of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party to step down in January after nearly 10 years in power - paving the way for Sunday's snap election. The vote, which was twice delayed owing to international concerns over fraud, pitches the ex-PM against his nemesis, Social Democrat Zoran Zaev.
It was Zaev who released tapes last year that appeared to show the government had wiretapped thousands, including journalists and religious officials, as well as alleging high-level corruption. Gruevski denied the claims and accused Zaev of planning a coup with foreign support.
"This is the day when people should tell their opinion... to exercise their right to vote and give their opinion on how and in what direction in the future Macedonia should move," Gruevski said after casting his ballot in Skopje.
Zaev, 42, has pitched the vote as a choice between "doom or life" and pledged to stop an exodus of young people from the former Yugoslav republic, which remains one of Europe's poorest countries.