Croatia: Election winners to form new government

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia's president has asked the leader of a center-left coalition that won the country's election to form the new government.

The coalition headed by Zoran Milanovic won 80 seats in the country's 151-seat parliament in the Dec. 4 vote, defeating the conservatives who had ruled virtually unchallenged for years.

The new parliament, which will meet for the first time next week, will need to approve Milanovic's Cabinet.

Milanovic said Wednesday "we must pull Croatia out of crisis and restore people's trust in the system."

The conservatives lost the election over declining living standards and high unemployment in the country that is set to join the EU in 2013.