North Macedonia nationalists seek coalition partner after election win

North Macedonia’s nationalist opposition began the search for a coalition partner on Thursday after voters frustrated by a lack of progress towards membership of the European Union ended seven years of rule by the Social Democrats.
The VMRO-DPMNE party won more than 42% of votes with nearly all ballots counted from Wednesday’s parliamentary election, giving them 58 seats in the 120-seat parliament, versus 15% for the Social Democrats.
In a run-off for the more ceremonial role of president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, a university professor who was backed by the VMRO-DPMNE, beat the SDSM-backed incumbent Stevo Pendarovski in a landslide to become the first country’s female head of state.
The swing from left to right in the Balkan state of 2 million people was fuelled by voter anger at slow development and persistent corruption which have held up its 2005 bid to join the European Union.