BELGRADE, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The parliament of Bosnia's Serb Republic voted on Thursday to dismiss Prime Minister Pero Bukejlovic's government after passing a no confidence motion, according to reports from Banja Luka.

    Forty-four deputies in the 83-seat parliament voted for the motion against the government headed by the main nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS), while 29 voted against and six abstained.

    Shortly afterwards, the parliament voted to sack the government.

    Under the republic's constitution, Bosnian Serb President Dragan Cavic has 10 days to nominate a new prime minister and the new government should be formed within 40 days, once the parliament votes to sack the incumbent government.

    On Jan. 11, the main opposition party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), called for the no confidence vote, which was supported by the SDS' former ally Party of Democratic Progress (PDP).

    After the votes, Bukejlovic said the fight launched by his government against corruption and crimes would continue. But these measures might have angered some parties and led them to vote against his government in the parliament, he said.

    Bukejlovic's SDS party and the centrist PDP formed a coalition government last January, but the PDP withdrew late last year, saying economic reforms were moving too slowly and privatization had been mishandled.

    Later, the nine PDP deputies shifted their support to the SNSD, leading to the ruling coalition's loss of majority in parliament.

    The Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation are Bosnia's two autonomous regions. Enditem