FYROM president says rival can form new government

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By Euronews
FYROM president says rival can form new government

The president of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia said he will give a mandate to his opposition rival to form a government, putting an end to a long political crisis.

Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev won a majority in December’s elections after forming an alliance with an Albanian minority party.

But President Gjorge Ivanov had refused to hand power to the coalition.

A brief offer to form a government in February was later revoked.

The country has been without a functioning government since 2015, after a scandal brought down the ruling coalition.

In April protesters stormed parliament when the Social Democrat’s named an ethnic Albanian as speaker.

The decision sparked outrage among nationalist lawmakers who challenged the vote, despite months deadlock in talks to form a new government.