The constitutive session of the new parliamentary composition is set to be held in the Big Dome hall at noon on Tuesday.

Outgoing Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi is to preside over Parliament’s constitutive session, which will be held in accordance with the COVID-19 health safety guidelines.

The agenda includes election of the Verification Committee, followed by MPs mandate verification, election of chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of the Committee on Election and Appointment Issues, and election of Parliament Speaker.

The Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic of Macedonia within ten days from the constitution of the Parliament to entrust the mandate for the composition of the Government to a candidate of the party, i.e. the parties that have a majority in the Parliament.

PM-designate submits government makeup and programme within 20 days of entrusted mandate.

The Parliament elects the government by majority of MP votes.

President Stevo Pendarovski said he’ll give the mandate to form a government to the candidate of the party or parties who’ll assure him of secured parliamentary majority of 61 MPs.

President Stevo Pendarovski, the outgoing Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski, former Presidents and Parliament Speakers, the Presidents of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council of the Republic of Macedonia, the Public Prosecutor and the President of the Council of Public Prosecutors, the Ombudsman, Government members and the Governor of the National Bank, as well as leaders of the political parties represented in the Parliament, the Chief of the Army’s General Staff, the presidents of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the State Election Commission, representatives of religious communities, and members of diplomatic and consular missions in Macedonia are invited as guests to attend the session.

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission for Infectious Diseases, the constitutive session will go ahead in line with protocols and criteria established in coordination with Commission chair Zharko Karadzhovski, with the only goal of reducing the risk of the virus spread, the Parliament said in press release.

MPs, guests and media crews will undergo body temperature checks upon entering the building and disinfectants will be available at all entrances.

The constitutive session will take place in the Big Dome hall, in which MPs will be seated at a proper distance and wearing protective equipment.

Voting will be manual, by using cards, and the session will be broadcast live at the Macedonian Radio Television. Live streams from the sessions of the working bodies will be available to the media on the Parliament’s link.

The guests will follow the broadcast of the constitutive session from the Parliament’s plenary hall. In addition, media outlets can have a maximum of two representatives, since the press area has room for up to 50 people.

With regards to the recommendations of the Commission for Infectious Diseases, the Parliament’s MPs Club, the restaurant and the bar in the press center will not be open. Considering the size of the indoor event, all persons are recommended to limit their movement within the building and wear protective masks at all times.

At the July 15 early parliamentary elections, SDSM won 46 MP seats, VMRO-DPMNE-44, DUI-15, Alliance for Albanians/Alternativa-12, Levica-2 and DPA-1. The final official results were announced on July 25, when the State Election Commission handed over the certificates to the elected lawmakers.