N. Macedonia's president hands Mickoski mandate to form govt

The structure of the new government will be announced later during the day, Mickoski told a press conference streamed on his Facebook profile.

The new government will focus on implementing reforms in several sectors, primarily healthcare, education, the rule of law, and foreign affairs, he said, adding that it will also raise pensions and invest in infrastructure and energy.

A VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition won 58 of 120 seats in the parliament in the May 8 parliamentary elections. The coalitions led by former ruling Social Democrat party SDSM and ethnic Albanian DUI have 18 seats each. The ethnic Albanian coalition VLEN, which has Alternativa among its members, has 14 mandates whereas the left-wing Levica and ZNAM movement have six mandates each.

VMRO-DPMNE also won the country's presidential elections, which coincided with the general elections, with its candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova taking office as president on May 12.