BELGRADE, Dec 29 (Hina) - The term of office of Serbia's incumbent President, Milan Milutinovic, an indictee of the U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague, expires at midnight today, Dec. 29, when parliament president Natasa Micic will
become the acting president of the republic for an interim period.
BELGRADE, Dec 29 (Hina) - The term of office of Serbia's incumbent
President, Milan Milutinovic, an indictee of the U.N. war crimes
tribunal at The Hague, expires at midnight today, Dec. 29, when
parliament president Natasa Micic will become the acting president
of the republic for an interim period. #L#
The Serbian president's term is five years and begins with the
swearing in before parliament, which Milutinovic did on 29 December
1997 after winning a presidential election, the secretary of the
republic's Election Commission, Ljiljana Benac-Santic, has said.
Micic on Monday automatically becomes the acting president as no
protocol, transfer of duty, the passing of a special act, or
swearing in ceremony are envisaged for such cases.
Under the recently amended law on the election of the republic's
president, the head of parliament is obliged to schedule a new
presidential ballot within two months of the last failed one, which
was held on December 8.
This means Micic has to schedule the election by February 8. The
aforementioned law states that the space between scheduling and
holding the election cannot be less than 30 or more than 90 days.
Serbia could, therefore, elect its new president, after two failed
attempts, between March 8 and May 8.
Tomorrow Micic will become the first female president in Serbia's
history.
The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia has charged Milutinovic, alongside former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic, with war crimes committed against
Kosovo Albanians in 1998-9.
Milutinovic has not yet confirmed the public's assumption that he
will surrender to the Tribunal.
(hina) ha