Albanian PM announces new cabinet members

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on members of the new cabinet that will govern the country for a third term during the next four years.
The ruling Socialist Party, led by Rama, won the general elections held on April 25, setting an unprecedented case in Albania for a political party to rule the country for three consecutive mandates, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rama revealed the names of his new cabinet during an Assembly meeting on Thursday, where 12 out of 16 ministers will be women.

In the new cabinet, Arben Ahmetaj, former economy minister, will replace Erion Brace as the new deputy prime minister, who resigned from his post earlier this week after running this post for eight years.

Ulsi Manja, former head of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs in the parliament, has been appointed as the new justice minister.

In addition, Rama announced three new state ministers -- Minister of State for Youth Bora Muzhaqi, Minister of State for Standards and Services Milva Ikonomi and Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship Edona Bilali.

Meanwhile, Lindita Nikolla, a former education minister, was appointed by Rama as the new parliament speaker - IANS