Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski of North Macedonia announced his resignation on Thursday as part of the upcoming parliamentary elections in May.

His move clears the way for a provisional transitional government to take over and organize the elections.

This procedure became the law following electoral manipulation under previous governments. It first went into effect in 2016.

The provisional government, which also includes opposition politicians, is supposed to ensure that the elections are carried out correctly.

The interim government, which will be allowed to serve for 100 days, will take office on Sunday after another parliamentary decision.

The current speaker of parliament, Talat Xhaferi, is planning to take the post of acting head of government, making him the first ethnic Albanian to hold that job.

The second round of the presidential election is scheduled at the same time as the parliamentary elections on May 8, with the first round scheduled for April 24.

Kovacevski, of the Social Democratic Union, has been head of the government since January 2022.

At the time, he replaced his party colleague Zoran Zaev, who resigned in October 2021 due to the poor results of his party in local elections.