Bulgaria's Parliament elects Plamen Oresharski as new Prime Minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - Bulgaria's Parliament on Wednesday, May 29 elected Plamen Oresharski as the country's new prime minister, ending a three-month long political stalemate after the previous center-right government resigned in February amid social protests, AP reported.

Lawmakers voted 120-97 to elect 53-year-old Oresharski, a former finance minister not associated with any party, to head the Cabinet.

In a separate vote, legislators also approved the Cabinet itself — a 15-member government of technocrats supported by the Socialist Party and a mainly ethnic Turkish party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

Oresharski promised to bring stability, economic growth and a normal business environment to the cash-strapped country, which now has 14 percent unemployment rate and the lowest average wages in the European Union. About 22 percent of the population lives below the official poverty line.

Oresharski appointed Zinaida Zlatanova as his deputy in charge of justice and home affairs, and the absorption of EU funding on which the country relies heavily. Zlatanova was the former head of the EU delegation in Sofia.

New finance minister will be Petar Chobanov, a former chairman of the country's financial regulator.

Kristian Vigenin, a European Parliament member, will be the new foreign minister, and Angel Naidenov will head the ministry of defense.