Skopje  - Macedonia will hold presidential and local elections in March, leaders of the country's four largest parties agreed Friday.

Macedonian prime minister and head of the leading conservative VMRO DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski told journalists that the elections will be held on March 22 and that there will not be any electronic voting.

Last June's parliamentary elections in Macedonia were marred by violence and irregularities but Gruevski said opposition parties were against electronic voting because there is not enough time to introduce the technology.

"We'll consider this option at another election," he said.

Macedonia's parliament on Friday also reduced the minimum turnout needed for presidential elections to be considered valid, from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

Turnout in the last presidential elections in 2004 was just over 50 per cent, after officials publicly appealing to the citizens to vote.

Macedonia, where Slavic Macedonians are majority, has a large Albanian minority which plays a big part in country's political life.

The violence that erupted in the majority Albanian parts of the country during the June parliamentary elections halted Macedonia's progress towards European Union membership.

The Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, which is a member of the ruling coalition, issued a statement Friday saying it believes upcoming elections will be peaceful. (dpa)