April 12 (SeeNews) - Macedonia's coalition government led by the Social-Democratic Union (SDSM) survived a no-confidence vote sought by opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party over its approach towards the name dispute with neighbouring Greece and a recently signed friendship treaty with Bulgaria.
The censure motion was rejected in a 62-40 vote, the parliament said late on Wednesday.
Macedonia's parliament has 120 seats.
The coalition partners of SDSM are two ethnic Albanian parties: the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) and the Alliance of Albanians.
Macedonia's government does not have a clear strategy and is not working towards building a nation-wide consensus in terms of the name dispute with Greece, the text of the motion of no-confidence reads.
In addition, the asymmetrical friendship treaty signed with Bulgaria, is another example of the government ignoring Macedonia's national interest.
The treaty of friendship, good neighbourly relations and cooperation between Bulgaria and Macedonia, which entered into force in February, envisages cooperation in various sectors, including energy and transport.
Additional reasons for the no-confidence motion was the government's failure to deliver on reform pledges, poor macroeconomic indicators and deterioration of the judicial system, according to the text of motion.