Bulgarian parliament approves centre-right coalition government

Rosen Zhelyazkov of the GERB party was officially elected prime minister on Thursday after three months of discussion.

Transcript

00:00Bulgaria's parliament has formally approved a coalition government led by the pro-European

00:05GERB party.

00:07Nearly three months after elections resulted in a deeply divided parliament, lawmakers

00:11voted 125 to 114 to elect Rozen Zelyazkov as prime minister.

00:18His centre-right party has pledged to restore financial stability and keep Bulgaria on a

00:23pro-EU and pro-NATO track.

00:26The main priorities of the government will be the quality of life of the people, with

00:35a focus on health care, education and the development of the labor market.

00:41The GERB party finished first in October's early elections, the seventh in three years,

00:47but won only 69 seats in the 240-seat National Assembly.

00:52Zelyazkov and his party had made, quote, the necessary compromises addressing the ideological

00:58differences with its two junior partners, the pro-Russia Socialist Party, BSP, and the

01:04populist group There Is Such People.