Belgrade - After a marathon session on Friday night, the Serbian parliament passed a law paving the way for a new cabinet headed by economist Mirko Cvetkovic.

Parliament, in a sitting filibustered by the opposition, also passed a law on 24 ministries. The two laws were necessary for the parliament to start debating the new government. The debate is expected to start on Monday.
The size of Cvetkovic's government, the largest in the region with its 24 ministries and three deputy premiers, reflects the fierce haggling which produced the ruling coalition and its slim majority since May 11 snap polls.

The pro-European bloc behind President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS), the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic's Socialists and four representatives of the Hungarian minority combined to make up 126 seats, the minimum majority in the assembly of 250.

The DS and the Socialists signed a coalition agreement earlier on Friday which states the principles and goals of the new Serbian government.

The ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party leads the opposition now after four years in government with the increasingly nationalistic Democratic Party of Serbia of outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. The two parties have 78 and 30 seats respectively.

The government may have the support of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), with 13 votes, when it tables laws which would accelerate Serbia's stalled progress toward European Union membership.

There are three minority representatives - two Muslim and one Albanian - in the parliament.

Kostunica's government collapsed in March after Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia. Kostunica wanted to turn Serbia away from the EU and towards Russia. Tadic blocked this and forced elections 14 months after the previous round. (dpa)