Serbian PM-designate proposes 18 ministers for parliament

Serbian Prime Minister-designate Aleksandar Vucic on Monday proposed to the National Assembly a list of 18 people to potentially become members of a new government.

Eight of the proposed names would be first-time ministers, while Vucic himself and nine others will continue their previous work portfolios.

Upon receiving the proposal, Maja Gojkovic, president of the National Assembly, scheduled a session of parliament on Tuesday.

Vucic told the media that parliament will debate a plan concerning the future development of the country on Tuesday before discussing and voting on his proposed cabinet.

"The list of ministers is a combination of success, experience and freshness. We maintained the axis of the [former] government which prevented the country from falling into bankruptcy, tripled growth, ensured public finance and stability," Vucic said.

This development signals the final phase of forming a new government in Serbia after the previous cabinet was dissolved by President Tomislav Nikolic on Vucic's request in March 2016.

Before dissolving the previous cabinet in March 2016, Vucic said that Serbia needed fresh elections to gain a strong mandate to pursue reforms related to the country's bid to join the EU.

Serbia, officially a candidate country for the EU, hopes to complete all relevant reforms by 2019 and enter the 28-member bloc in 2020.

ٍSource : XINHUA