FYROM fails to form government

BELGRADE - Macedonia's (FYROM) president on Monday resumed the search for a new prime minister after the former premier failed to form a government, despite his party's narrow election victory, EurActiv.com reports.

The December vote was held as part of a European Union-brokered deal between Macedonia's four main political parties aimed at ending a long-running political crisis.

President Gjorge Ivanov was informed by parliament that the VMRO-DPMNE party led by Nikola Gruevski, the former premier and a veteran conservative leader, had failed to form a government within the 20-day deadline, his office said.

A source in the office told AFP that Ivanov would restart consultations.

In the vote, VMRO-DPMNE secured 51 seats in the 120-seat parliament, or two more than the Social Democrats (SDSM), the main opposition party.

The neck-and-neck results meant...