The new government was supported by 133 of 244 deputies attending the session, 106 were against, three abstained, and two did not vote.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the 25-member government is Bozidar Djelic of the Democratic Party (DS), who was finance minister in the government of the assassinated prime minister Zoran Djindjic. Djelic will now be in charge of European integration issues.
Vuk Jeremic, a member of the DS and advisor to Serbian President Boris Tadic, was elected Foreign Minister. Another DS member, Dragan Sutanovac, was elected Defence Minister, while Dragan Jocic of the DSS was re-elected Minister of the Interior. Mladjan Dinkic of G17 Plus, who recently resigned from the post of finance minister, was elected Economy Minister. Actor Vojislav Brajovic of the DS was elected Culture Minister.
The government's new law on ministries envisages the establishment of a ministry in charge of Kosovo and Metohija, to be headed by Slobodan Samardzic, former advisor to PM Kostunica. The law also envisages a minister without portfolio and this post was given to Dragan Djilas of the DS, a close associate of President Tadic.
Less than an hour before the expiry of the deadline for the election of the country's new government, the parliamentary session was interrupted by the Radicals and members of the Socialist Party, who were dissatisfied with reports that a military hotel in Belgrade had been raided on suspicion that Hague tribunal indictee Ratko Mladic was hiding there. As they were given no explanation regarding the reports, deputies of the Radical Party said they would walk out of the session.
Socialist Milutin Mrkonjic, who was presiding over the session, stepped down and transferred his powers to a deputy from Kostunica's DSS. After a half an hour break, the session resumed.
The chairman of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY, Rasim Ljajic, said earlier this evening that a raid had been carried out in Belgrade earlier in the day as part of an operation to arrest Mladic.
The war crimes prosecutor's office issued a statement saying the operation did not yield any results.