PM Zoran Zaev announced his official resignation last night, after the disappointing performance of his party – LSDM – in the country’s local elections. Zaev declared that he won’t only be stepping down from his role as North Macedonia’s prime minister but also his party function as LSDM’s chair.
“I take responsibility upon myself for the recent political developments and final result of these elections. I’m announcing my resignation as the country’s prime minister and as chair of LSDM,” – said Zaev.
Nevertheless, Zaev’s resignation at this point has only been forewarned because it hasn’t been officially submitted to Parliament, as is required by official procedures.
According to the Constitution of North Macedonia, the moment the country’s prime minister steps down so does his government.
“The prime minister’s resignation, his death or his permanent suspension from all official duties, immediately leads to the resignation of his administration,” – states the Constitution.
Under such circumstances, the president has 10 days to appoint another member that will form the new government. This member is proposed by the parties that hold a majority in Parliament.
This new appointee will have 20 days to submit to Parliament, his or her proposal for the new Government.
It is still unclear whether or not LSDM will be able to keep their fragile majority of 62 MPs in the Macedonian Parliament.
PM Zaev has been holding meetings with all smaller parties during the entire day and afternoon, with the prospect of forming a possible governmental coalition and discuss his future political plan of action.
Zaev was elected PM back in 2017 after the snap elections held in 2016.
In addition, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, has called for an early parliamentary election.
“The governing party is now de-legitimized, and this is a new reality. The best way now is early elections,” said Mickoski, after declaring victory in the local election.
If Parliament does accept Zaev’s resignation, negotiations would begin to form a new cabinet under a different LDSM leader and that could take some time.
Organizing snap elections would take several months, with April 2022 being the earliest date.
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