Macedonian parliament dissolved for early election

Associated Press
Czech President Milos Zeman, right, welcomes Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, left, with military honors for a meeting at the Prague Castle, Czech Republic, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/CTK, Vit Simanek) SLOVAKIA OUT

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's lawmakers have voted to dissolve parliament so elections can be held a year ahead of time after parties in the governing coalition failed to agree on a presidential candidate.

The snap election was supported Wednesday by all 117 lawmakers present in the 123-seat parliament. The vote is likely to be held on April 27, which would coincide for the first time with the second round of the presidential election. Parliamentary elections were not originally due until mid-2015.

The early vote was pushed by the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, a junior partner in the conservative coalition government, which opposed the choice of the main party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for president. Gruevski's party had endorsed the current president, Gjorge Ivanov, to run for re-election.