Skopje, 19 November 2021 (MIA) – Prime Minister and SDSM leader Zoran Zaev will ask the party bodies to summon a meeting of the central and executive boards next Tuesday in order to verify his resignation and launch the procedure over the election of a new leader, who according to Zaev should be the next PM-designate. “It is up to the party bodies to decide. I personally believe, considering prior experience when a PM was not a leader of the ruling party, that the party leader should also be the PM-designate because the responsibility and the legitimacy is complete in this case,” Zaev told reporters after a meeting with Alternativa leader Afrim Gashi. He added that his announcement of the resignation from the post of PM and SDSM leader was still valid and they would be submitted to the competent institutions once the parliamentary majority was secured. “If all constitutional deadlines are followed, we cannot have a PM-designate and a new Government by December 14. It is logical that SDSM uses this period to elect its president. Therefore, I will ask the party bodies to summon the central and executive boards in order to verify my resignation and thus launch the procedure for election of a new party leader. I stand by my word and I will be pleased to see similar moves by other politicians. The newly-elected SDSM leader should be the future PM-designate. A new PM-designate means a new Government, not a reshuffle,” said Zaev. On media reports that current Deputy Finance Minister Dimitar Kovachevski would be the new SDSM leader and the PM-designate, Zaev said the SDSM members were the ones who directly elect the party leader, while adding that Kovachevski’s attendance at today’s meeting was because of his capacity as member of the SDSM executive board and chair of the party’s committee on finances and budget. Quizzed over Alternativa’s acceptance of a new PM-designate and a new Government, Gashi said he would not interfere in SDSM’s internal affairs, while expecting Zaev’s successor to continue the discussions.