After 12 hours of a heated debate, lawmakers in the 250-seat Serbian parliament voted 142 to 72 to endorse Dacic as prime minister at the helm of a coalition with nationalists..

Dacic thus took power, telling Europe and the Balkans to forget the past and not fear the return of a political alliance that once led the country to war with NATO.

The new government has 17 ministries and 19 officials to run them.

Aleksandar Vucic, the acting head of the Progressive Party, is the new defence minister and first deputy prime minister, also in charge of defence and security and the fight against corruption and crime.

The new foreign minister is Ivan Mrkic, former Serbian ambassador in Japan who was also the country's ambassador in Cyprus under the reign of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.

The Socialists' Zarko Obradovic, who headed the Education Ministry in the previous government, will keep the post.

Other Socialists who will enter the new government include: Slavica Djukic Dejanovic as health minister, Milutin Mrkonjic as minister for transport, and Pensioner Party President Jovan Krkobabic as labour minister.

There will be two ministers from the ranks of Serbia's Bosniaks parties. Rasim Ljajic of the Social-Democratic Party of Serbia will be heading the Ministry for Internal and External Trade while Sulejman Ugljanin, the leader of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak, will keep the post of minister without portfolio, in charge of insufficiently developed areas.

Mladjan Dinkic, the leader of the United Regions of Serbia (URS) has been given the post of the minister of finance and economy.

URS's Verica Kalanovic is the minister for regional development and local government. Another URS official, Suzana Grubjesic, is deputy prime minister for European Integration. New Serbia (NS) party president Velimir Ilic will be the new minister for construction.

The news government is expected to hold its inaugural session this afternoon.

The parliamentary elections in Serbia were held on 6 May.