Macedonia hopes to avoid violence in poll re-run

Macedonia is holding a partial re-run of parliamentary elections marred earlier this month by fraud, intimidation and violence.

A free and fair ballot is key to the country’s chances of joining the European Union.

Around 10 percent of the population have a chance to cast their votes today, mainly in ethnic Albanian areas where the election was flawed. In the village of Aracinovo, one person was killed in a shootout.

The violence surrounding the original poll could perpetuate a Western impression that the Kalashnikov is still part of the political process in Macedonia, seven years after it was pulled back from the brink of all-out ethnic war. The EU and US pressured the country to conduct a partial re-run.

It won’t change the winner – Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s ruling conservatives. But it could decide which of the two main Albanian parties claims first place among the former Yugoslav republic’s 500,000 Albanians.

Copyright © 2012 euronews