Skopje, 10 January 2022 (MIA) – The two top party bodies of the ruling party SDSM on Monday will hold sessions in Skopje to verify the nominations for ministers of the new government. The Executive Board will hold a session at 6 pm before a session of the Central Board at 8 pm, SDSM confirmed to MIA. The new SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski, who is also the prime minister-designate, is expected to send to Parliament a motion on the nominated candidates for the new cabinet and the new government program. Parliament is also expected by the end of the week to hold a session to elect the new government. Preparations for forming the new government are nearly finished as the program and nominations are also aligned with the coalition partners, Kovachevski has said. “Our objective to form a stable government with clear principles for functioning has been met. Such a government means efficiency and stability in settling of the serious challenges ahead. The nominated candidates, I’d say they are professionals having the desire to work for the citizens and the society,” he told MIA in an interview. Failing to reveal any names of the candidates in the new cabinet, Kovachevski said “it is a team of fresh names and established professionals from the outgoing government.” President Stevo Pendarovski presented Kovachevski with the government-formation mandate on December 29. Receiving the mandate, the PM-designate said he planned to propose the new government around January 10 or January 11 The new government is expected to be formed on January 17, 2022. According to the law on government, Parliament elects and dismisses the government with a majority of votes out of the total number of MPs. North Macedonia’s Parliament has 120 lawmakers. Proposing the government, the PM-designate nominates the ministers and the government takes office the day it is elected.