Macedonia’s conservative coalition government claimed victory in early general elections, and the opposition conceded defeat.

Macedonian Prime Minister Hari Kostov quit today over disagreements with ethnic Albanian parties in the governing coalition, triggering a government crisis in the ethnically tense Balkan state.

MACEDONIANS voted yesterday for a successor to president Boris Trajkovski, killed in a plane crash in February, with the incumbent prime minister tipped to win despite his poor economic record.

OPPOSITION parties led

Gunmen ambushed Macedonia’s interior minister yesterday, spraying his car with bullets as he travelled to visit refugees returning to their homes.