Low turnout for Macedonia vote

Polls closed in Macedonia yesterday with all signs pointing to a flop for the opposition's referendum bid to block a Western-inspired law that gives the ethnic Albanian minority more local autonomy.

The nationalist organisers of the vote accused the Socialist-led coalition government, which includes former Albanian guerillas, of cheating so that it could impose its "abnormal measures" over the heads of Macedonians.

No violent incidents were reported. Macedonian law requires a turnout of over 50 per cent for the referendum to be valid but turnout with two hours left to poll was only 21 per cent, according to independent monitors.

"In 20 per cent of the country, polling stations were not opened at all," said Todor Petrov of the World Macedonian Congress, who initiated a petition and collected 180,000 signatures to enforce the referendum call.

Mr Petrov said turnout was 30 per cent at 4 p.m. according to his estimates, and predicted the 50 per cent minimum would be achieved.

The law at issue is a key part of the Western-brokered Ohrid peace plan that quelled an Albanian guerilla insurgency after seven months of clashes with government forces in 2001.

The rebels disarmed and disbanded and their leaders are now part of Macedonia's ruling coalition. But in a show of strength hinting the guns could come out again if the referendum passes, two armed men postured near the capital Skopje. "We're patrolling this village," one told a Reuters reporter in a village on the outskirts of Skopje. "We're doing this because the Ohrid agreement has not been respected."

They wore camouflage and held Kalashnikov rifles.

Macedonians were voting on whether a new law should go into force that redraws local boundaries and cuts the number of municipalities from 123 to 84. It gives the 25 per cent Albanian minority more say over schools, health and jobs in the 16 municipalities they will control.

It also makes Albanian an official language in new areas where Albanians top 20 per cent, which will include Skopje, whose street signs will be in Albanian as well as Macedonian.

Symbolically it makes them full partners in Macedonia, a status many felt they have long been denied.

Opponents of the law, which has already been approved by parliament and will be implemented if the referendum fails, say it would split the Balkan state along ethnic lines.

Ethnic Albanians overwhelmingly boycotted the vote. "I feel like this ballot box - empty," said 28-year-old former guerilla Neshat Bajrami, officiating at the empty polling station in one Albanian village. Macedonians could not "say one thing and then take it back".

The European Union and the United States, who provide financial aid, wanted the referendum to fail. Brussels said EU membership prospects hinge on building a multi-ethnic democracy.

Stability is also crucial to the Balkans ahead of talks next year on potential independence for neighbouring Kosovo, Serbia's Albanian-majority province that has been run by the United Nations and guarded by NATO troops for the last four years.

A stable Macedonia would be less susceptible to any Kosovo spillover, violent or political.

In a nod to boost moderates, Washington recognised the country's chosen name "Macedonia" last week, overruling years of Greek opposition to them using the name of Greece's northern province. It called the move "a reward" for progress made.