Ana Brnabic on Thursday was nominated for the post of prime minister in Serbia – making her not only the first woman to head the country’s government, but also the first openly gay prime minister, BBC reported. Brnabic, a former marketing executive, said if she is elected in Parliament, she will run the government with “dedication and responsibility”, TIME reported.

The country’s incumbent prime minister Aleksandar Vucic handpicked Brnabic, 41, to succeed him after he won the presidential election in April. Next week, the 250-seat parliament in the country will vote for her nomination, but since Vucic’s party and allies hold a majority in Parliament, the vote is considered to be a formality.

She was appointed the minister of public administration and local government. Her appointment had made headlines for she was the first gay minister in the Serbian Cabinet. She is not part of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, but is considered to be close to the president, TIME reported.

“I believe Ana Brnabic has all the personal qualities and expertise,” Vucic said, according to Reuters. “I am confident she will work hard, that she will show respect to political parties and that she will work for the benefit of Serbia with other ministers.”

However, Vucic’s move has drawn criticism from conservatives, including his allies. Dragan Markovic Palma of Unified Serbia party, an ally of the Serbian Progressive Party, had recently said that he wanted his prime minister to be a “family man who knows what children are”, Reuters reported. “She is not my prime minister,” Palma is believed to have said of Brnabic.

Critics also said the appointment was made by Vucic under pressure from the West. “Is it possible that the ruling majority has no other candidate for the prime minister-designate but the one imposed by the West, which dictates all the moves by this government?” the Opposition’s conservative Dveri group asked, according to TIME.

Her nomination comes a week after the Leo Varadkar became the first openly gay prime minister of the Republic of Ireland. Varadkar’s parents immigrated to Ireland from India. He is a physician who later joined politics.