May 17 (SeeNews) - Macedonia's president Gjorge Ivanov said on Wednesday he gave a mandate for forming the country's new government to SDSM leader Zoran Zaev.
"The obstacles to awarding a mandate have been removed," Ivanov announced in a statement released by the president's office.
In a letter submitted to the president, Zaev has given guarantees to keep the unitary character of the state, state news agency MIA reported.
In March, the Macedonian president refused to give the mandate to Zaev despite the proof of parliamentary majority which Zaev had submitted to him, as he was concerned that SDSM's agreement with ethnic Albanian parties on the formation of a coalition cabinet would jeopardize the country's sovereignty. Those parties have pegged their participation in the future government to the acceptance of the so-called Tirana platform - a list of political demands they put forward following consultations with Albania's prime minister Edi Rama.