January 17 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's parliament elected Dimitar Kovacevski new prime minister to replace Zoran Zaev, the ruling left-wing SDSM party said on Monday.
The new coalition government led by SDSM will focus on bolstering the economy and improving the quality of life through measures such as increasing pensions and supporting the purchasing power of citizens, Kovacevski told parliament in a speech posted on the YouTube channel of SDSM.
The new cabinet will also give priority to solving the ongoing energy crisis, stimulating domestic and foreign investments and accelerating the process of North Macedonia's European integration, Kovacevski said.
The new coalition government was backed by 62 of 108 lawmakers present at the vote in the 120-seat parliament, local news provider Fokus reported.
Outgoing prime minister Zoran Zaev handed over his office to Kovacevski early on Monday, the government said in a statement.
The new cabinet consists of 16 ministries. SDSM will have seven ministers and three deputy prime ministers, including the ministers of defence, interior, justice and transport, Kovacevski said earlier.
SDSM reached an agreement in December with small opposition ethnic Albanian party Alternative to form a new majority in parliament after Besa, a junior partner in the previous government coalition led by Zaev, withdrew its support for a new SDSM-led cabinet. North Macedonia's president Stevo Pendarovski handed Kovacevski the mandate to form the new government in late December. Zaev submitted his resignation a week earlier, forcing the whole government to step down, after SDSM suffered a defeat in the local elections.