Sunday, November 23, 2008

Slovenia parliament approves new centre-left cabinet

"Slovenia's parliament has approved the 18-member cabinet of new centre-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor, who has pledged his government will focus on dealing with the financial crisis.

'We will focus on overcoming the financial and economic crisis so as to beat it with a development policy rather than a passive one,' Pahor told parliament before the vote.

The assembly approved the cabinet by 56 votes to 30.

Pahor's Social Democrats (SD) ousted former conservative prime minister Janez Jansa in a closely contested parliamentary election in September.

Pahor, 45, formed a coalition with two centre-left parties, Zares and the Liberal Democracy (LDS), and the pensioners' party Desus, which had been a junior partner in the Jansa government. The four parties together hold 50 out of 90 seats in parliament.

Pahor told parliament he would enforce social dialogue with trade unions and employers, curb budget spending and raise investment incentives in order to boost the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy.

He also promised tax cuts and pointed out wage growth will have to lag behind productivity growth by at least one percentage point in order to keep the economy competitive."

Source: tvnz.co.nz

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