Skopje, 23 December 2021 (MIA) – President Stevo Pendarovski says he expects to hand over a mandate for the formation of a new government by the middle of next week, on Tuesday or Wednesday. He said he had received a Parliament notification informing him about Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s resignation, adding he should be sent a letter from the party having the parliamentary majority before he hands over the mandate. “I have to receive a letter from the party or parties saying they have the majority and they should nominate a candidate to be prime minister-designate. I cannot present the mandate to SDSM, I have to know beforehand who I’m handing it over to,” President Pendarovski told Kanal 5 on Thursday. The head of state, starting today, has ten days to hand over the government-formation mandate according to the Constitution. It is widely reported that the new SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski will be the prime minister-designate. “He [Kovachevski] should be given a chance. He has prolific academic experience, he has been a years-long member of SDSM. I believe he has a good starting point,” said Pendarovski.