Skopje, 25 January 2024 (MIA) - Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski submitted his resignation to the Parliament on Thursday, opening the way for the formation of a caretaker government which is set to be elected on Sunday, 100 days prior to the May 8 parliamentary elections.

In a brief statement to the media, Kovachevski focused on what he believes are the greatest achievements in the mandate of the incumbent Government.  On caretaker PM Talat Xhaferi, he said Xhaferi was a skilled politician who has a lot of experience in running the Parliament. According to Kovachevski, the style of the caretaker PM will be different, but the state will maintain its strategic course.

"An informal meeting was held with the ministers where I thanked them for their hard work in the past two years. Today, I will do what the law requires. My resignation is signed, I will now take it to the archive. I will meet with the Parliament Speaker, wish him a successful procedure until Sunday, and his successful election as caretaker Prime Minister," said Kovachevski. 

Kovachevski added he was confident that he will be leading the new Government on May 9.  

"I assumed the post with a background in running corporations, so the style would probably be different, but the state will certainly maintain its strategic course, i.e. Western orientation, the strategic partnership with the United States. The caretaker government will also protect the citizens, seeing that the crisis is still ongoing, as we did over the past two years. This is something that is laid down by law, and on May 9, I will be leading the new Government and the parliamentary majority which will ensure the Republic of North Macedonia's full-fledged EU membership by 2030," said Kovachevski. 

He noted he was honored and proud to have served as Prime Minister. 

"I had the honor and responsibility to lead the Government at an exceptional time, a time of multiple international crises, but above all economic turmoil caused by the war in Ukraine. I believe the Government's approach to providing support was really taking care of everyone. All ministers in the Government, deputy ministers, services working across the institutions should be proud of what they did for their country in the past two years," Kovachevski pointed out. 

Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi said yesterday that after the PM's resignation, he will notify the President that the Government has resigned, and then resign himself.

Photo: MIA archive