November 29 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's parliament approved Dusko Markovic as the prime minister of a pro-NATO and EU coalition government led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the winner in the general elections held in October.
The parliament also endorsed DPS members Milutin Simovic and Zoran Pazin, as well as Rafet Husovic, member of the Bosniak Party (BS), as deputy prime ministers, the Montenegrin government said in a statement late on Monday.
Pazin and Husovic will be at the helm of the justice and regional development ministries, as in the previous government led by long-standing prime minister Milo Djukanovic.
The government was elected unanimously by 41 of the 81 members of parliament, with opposition boycotting the debate amidst accusations of alleged manipulation of the vote, state broadcaster Radio Televizije Crne Gore (RTCG) reported.
In his inaugural speech in parliament, Markovic said that the membership of Montenegro in NATO and the EU will be the top priorities of the new cabinet, the government said in a statement.
"We have an ambitious goal that by the end of 2019, i.e. before the end of the term of this government, which coincides with the end of the term of the current European Commission, we close all chapters in the negotiation process," Markovic pointed out.
The DPS-led government has secured the support of the BS, the Social Democrats of Montenegro (SD), Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI), and Albanci Odlucno political alliance.
DPS member Dragica Sekulic was named economy minister and Darko Radunovic, also a member of DPS, was appointed as finance minister. Sekulic has been the general director in charge of energy efficiency at the economy ministry so far, while Radunovic is the managing director of lender Prva Banka Crne Gore.