Low Turnout Dents 'Yes' Victory in Macedonia Referendum

Based on 98.61 per cent of votes counted, Macedonia's State Electoral Commission, DIK, on Monday said the turnout in Sunday's consultative referendum was 36.87 per cent - far below the 50 per cent needed for the result to be deemed valid and legally binding.

The DIK also announced that of those same 98.61 per cent of votes counted, 91.48 per cent of votes were in favour of the deal with Greece, and 5.64 per cent were against.

In terms of numbers, of the 661,393 people who voted, 605,016 voted in favour of the agreement and 37,312 voted against.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, leader of the "Yes" campaign, said the overwhelming support of voters for the name deal sent a clear sign that he should continue to push for adoption of the agreement in parliament - for which he will need the support of at least some opposition MPs.

The governing coalition led by his Social Democrats and its supporters among smaller parties has the backing of 71 of the 120 MPs in the chamber. Zaev now needs the support of nine more MPs from the ranks of the opposition.

If not, Zaev said that the alternative was early elections in November, when the "Yes" camp would seek the two-thirds majority in parliament needed for the constitutional changes that would officialise the newly agreed name of Republic of North Macedonia.

The country's Euro-Atlantic future was "a serious matter and there should be no kidding around", Zaev said several times during his public address on Sunday night, in what was clearly a message designed for his political opponents.

Zaev said that he would give some ten days to efforts to persuade at least some of the opposition MPs from the opposition VMRO DPMNE party to support the deal in parliament before opting for...