TIRANA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The campaign of early elections in Macedonia, set for June 1, officially kicked off at midnight on Sunday, news reaching here from Skopje reported. The pre-election campaign will last until May 30, followed by election silence on May 31. Polling stations will be open from 07:00 to 19:00 on June 1, local time. Elections will be conducted on the basis of proportional representation in six election districts. About 1.74 million people have the right to vote in a country with a population of 2 million. Over 30 political parties have signed the Code of Conduct for free and fair elections. The west Balkan country was forced to hold snap elections after its NATO membership bid was blocked by Greece over name dispute earlier last month. Athens opposes its neighbor's constitutional name of "the Republic of Macedonia," arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia. The incumbent government led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski came to office in 2006, and the tenure of the government should have been due in 2010.