Skopje, Macedonia - Prime Minister Nikola Grujevski was Monday, three weeks after troubled snap parliamentary polls, again appointed to head the troubled Balkan country's government.

Gruevski's nationalist VNMRO-DPMNE won 63 out of the 120 assembly seats and has an absolute majority in marred June 1 elections and now has 20 days to present his cabinet.

VMRO would nevertheless partner one of two ethnic Albanian parties to represent the restive minority, making up around one-quarter of the 2.1 million Macedonian citizens, but dominating in the entire north-western section of the country.

The poll had to be repeated at nearly 200 polling stations in Albanian areas, owing to incidents of violence and irregularities. The rerun on June 14 ended without trouble.

Gruevski's partners of the past, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), won 11 seats in parliament, compared to 18 of their bitter foes, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), with 18 votes.

DPA claimed that the rerun vote was again marred and has boycotted the first session of the new parliament over the weekend.

The DUI, headed by the former insurgent leader Ali Ahmeti, warned that Gruevski must take it as partners because it has most support among the Albanians - the premier has not yet announced his plans.

Now with his hands untied in terms of support in parliament, GHruevski would also have to take responsibility for Macedonia's huge problems.

Though it won the status of a European Union membership candidate nearly three years ago, because of lagging reforms it has made little progress.

Skopje was also left at the doorstep of NATO in April owing to a dispute over the name Macedonia with its southern neighbour Greece arguing that the names belongs to its northern province.

Perpetual problems in elections, persisting poverty and endemic corruption also remain as a balast in the small, landlocked country, the least-developed of all former Yugoslav republics. (dpa)