December 18 (SeeNews) - The Serb Republic's parliament endorsed on Tuesday a new government led by Radovan Viskovic which has pledged to carry out a set of reforms to curb grey economy.
Viskovic's government has 16 ministries, the Serb Republic's government said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Economy will be what we will pay special attention to. Only economically strong Serb Republic can be protected from political assaults," Viskovic said during the debate leading up to vote.
The government plans to simplify the fiscal system, to restructure the power supply system, establish a securities commission and enable the participation of employees in the management of companies, Viskovic said, as seen in a video file posted on the website of public broadcaster BHRT on Tuesday.
Nine of his ministers are from the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) led by Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, three from the Socialist Party (SP), two from the Democratic National Alliance (DNS) and one from Democratic Union (DS), United Srpska (US) and Democratic People's Alliance (NDS) each.
The government of Viskovic will have one new ministry -- of scientific and technological development and higher education.
Viskovic is the former president of the parliamentary group of SNSD in the previous legislature. In October, SNSD won the vote for the state-level parliament of the Serb Republic and the elections for the tripartite interethnic presidency held in Bosnia's two entities - the Federation and the Serb Republic.
According to the Dayton peace agreement that put an end to the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, the country is divided into two entities -- the Serb Republic (mostly populated by Serbs) and the Federation (majority populated by Bosniaks and Croats), covering 49% and 51% of the country's territory, respectively. The Brcko District, functioning under a decentralised system of local government, was created in 2000, out of land from both entities to reflect its multi-ethnic nature.