Serbian President Tadic Formally Resigns

Serbian President Boris Tadic on Thursday sent an official letter of resignation to the parliament to clear the way for joint presidential and parliamentary elections, Tanjug news agency reported.

Parliamentary speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic now has until Saturday to call presidential elections on the same day as the parliamentary, regional and local vote already scheduled on May 6.

On Wednesday Tadic announced he would cut short his mandate with nine months to go in order to allow joint elections. The move is expected to boost the lacklustre electoral campaign and save money.

Following Tadic's resignation Dejanovic will be Serbia's acting head of state until the new president is chosen.

Tadic, 54, has already announced he will run for a third and final term. The center-left Democratic Party leader is likely to face his long-time rival, Tomislav Nikolic, 60, of the right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in a second round run-off, opinion polls show.