SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) 鈥
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Monday tapped the largest group in parliament, the center-right GERB-UDF coalition, to form the country鈥檚 new government.
Radev handed the mandate to Maria Gabriel, the prime minister-designate under a power-sharing deal by the two main political parties, according to which each would hold the top job for nine months at a time.
Earlier this month, Nikolay Denkov of the reformist coalition led by 鈥淲e Continue the Change,鈥 as prime minister, paving the way for Gabriel, a former European Commissioner who served as deputy head of Denkov鈥檚 government and foreign minister.
The two parties agreed to share power after elections last year in a bid to end a two-and-a-half-year-long , restore stability and spur economic development in the of the European Union.
Accepting the mandate, Gabriel said that she does it 鈥渨ith a sense of responsibility as Bulgaria needs stability.鈥 It was also announced that she would keep the foreign minister portfolio in the new government, which analysts see as a guarantee that Bulgaria will remain on its pro-Western track.
Gabriel has seven days to nominate a cabinet, which needs to be approved by a majority in parliament.
Following last year鈥檚 election, GERB has 69 seats in the 240-seat parliament, while the reformist bloc has 63.
Gabriel, 43, a member of the European Parliament since 2009, was EU commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth. She is also the first vice chair of the European People鈥檚 Party.
