Today, on Friday February 29, 2008, after a vote 41-YES/0-NO, the 80-seat Parliament of Montenegro (Skupština) has approved the program and the composition of the new Cabinet of Ministers headed by Milo Đukanović.

After the statement of general policy was read yesterday (Thursday) by the Prime Minister Designate, each deputy wishing to speak has had ten minutes to state his point of view about the government’s structure and program presented to the Parliamentary Assembly.

However, in the end of afternoon, debates had to be interrupted in emergency and the vote postponed to Friday, after an anonymous telephone call was received around 05:30pm (CET), claiming that a bomb had been dissimulated within the Parliament; a bomb alert which finally turned out to be false.

During Friday’s vote, all the opposition members together with several deputies from the governmental majority abstained.

After a 15-month absence from the political limelight, Milo Đukanović, 46, returns for the fifth time since 1991 as head of a Montenegrin government, of which he put at the top of its priority list:
 Accelerating Montenegro’s integration into international institutions, notably the EU and NATO;
 Reducing unemployment, which currently hovers around 12%; and
 Giving a new economic dynamism to the country.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration:
Prof. Dr. Gordana Đurović, economist, born in 1964 (reconducted).

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Policy:
Prof. Dr. Vujica Lazović, economist, born in 1963 (reconducted).

Minister for Foreign Affairs:
Milan Roćen, graduated at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, born in 1950 (reconducted).

Minister of Justice:
Miraš Radović, lawyer, born in 1959 (reconducted).

Minister of Defense:
Boro Vučinić, lawyer, born in 1954 (reconducted).

Minister of Finance:
Igor Lukšić, economist, born in 1976 (reconducted).

Minister for Economic Development:
Branimir Gvozdenović, graduated at the Faculty of Electrotechnic in Podgorica, born in 1961 (reconducted).

Minister of the Interior and Public Administration:
Jusuf Kalamperović, lawyer, born in 1945 (reconducted).

Minister of Health, Labor and Social Welfare:
Prof. Dr. Miodrag Radunović, graduated at the Faculty of Medicine in Podgorica, born in 1959 (reconducted).

Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Telecommunications:
Prof. Dr. Andrija Lompar, graduated at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden, born in 1956 (reconducted).

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management:
Milutin Simović, graduated at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, born in 1961 (reconducted).

Minister of Tourism and Environmental Protection:
Predrag Nenezić, economist, born in 1970 (reconducted).

Minister of Education and Science:
Prof. Dr. Sreten Škuletić, graduated at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Podgorica, born in 1949.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Medias:
Branislav Mićunović, graduated at the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade, born 1952.

Minister for Human and Minority Rights:
Fuad Nimani, graduated at the Faculty of Mathematics in Priština, Kosovo, born in 1948 (reconducted).

Minister without Portfolio:
Dr. Suad Numanović, physician, born in 1960 (reconducted).