SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's main conservative opposition party has elected Hristijan Mickoski as its new leader at a special congress.

Mickoski, the VMRO-DPMNE party's only candidate, was elected late Saturday with 376 votes out of a total 428 delegates who voted.

The 40-year-old's election came after former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski resigned two weeks ago following a defeat in local government elections in October.

Gruevski had been party leader since 2003 and was prime minister from 2006 to 2016, when he failed to form a coalition government after a general election. He was eventually succeeded by Social Democrat leader and bitter rival Zoran Zaev following months of political crisis.

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After his Saturday election, Mickoski said his party's goal is to "dismantle the incompetent Social Democrat government."