Skopje  - Presidential and local elections in Macedonia were an improvement over previous, violence-plagued polls, though some problems persist, the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission said Monday.

The runner of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, Georgi Ivanov, won by a landslide Sunday, after equally dominating the first-round vote two weeks earlier. He became the country's fourth president since it split from former Yugoslavia nearly two decades ago.

Skopje, Macedonia - Srecko Katanec

Skopje  - The nationalist candidate Georgi Ivanov won the Macedonian presidential run-off with nearly twice as many votes as his rival, Ljubomir Frckoski, the state election commission said Monday.

Ivanov, put forward by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party, collected 437,000 votes while Frckoski, the runner of the opposition Social Democratic Union, collected 252,000.

Turnout was low, barely surpassing the 40-per-cent mark required by law for a legal election. With nearly all the ballots accounted for, the turnout was 40.8 per cent, the commission said.

Skopje - The ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party's candidate Georgi Ivanov was leading his rival from the opposition Social Democratic Union, Ljubomir Frckoski, by a large margin in the Sunday's presidential election run-off, the state election commission said.

According to preliminary figures, Ivanov had 200,000 votes to Frckoski's 102,000, accoring to the commission. The figures were in line with pre-election surveys, which predicted Ivanov' would win two votes for every one to Frckoski.

Skopje - The ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party's candidate Georgi Ivanov was heading to certain victory in the Macedonian presidential election runoff, after the vote barely survived a boycott by the Albanian minority.

While Ivanov was steadily collecting two ballots to each one won by his rival, the opposition Social Democrat's Ljubomir Frckoski, turnout met the legally required 40-per-cent threshold by a razor- thin margin.

Skopje  - The ruling Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE party appeared set to solidify its authority with the victory of its candidate in the presidential election run-off on Sunday.

The VMRO candidate, Georgi Ivanov, is an overwhelming favourite to win the ballot even before the first round on March 22. Surveys show him with a two-to-one edge over the Social Democratic candidate and law professor, Ljubomir Frckoski.