TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

The Council of Ministers includes five Ministries with rotating terms to beshared between the two republics . The current Council of Ministers wasapproved by the Federal Assembly on 17 March 2003 .Republic levelBoth republics have unicameral assemblies . The Serbian Parliament has afour-year term . Early elections for the Serbian parliament were held on23 December, 2000, resulting in a clear victory of the Democratic Oppositionof Serbia (DOS) . Following the assassination of Zoran Djindjic (DemocraticParty (D.S .)) on 12 March, 2003, Zoran Zivkovic, vice-president of the D.S .,was appointed Serbian Prime Minister . Recent Presidential elections in Serbiafailed to elect a new President owing to minimum voter turnout requirements .On 15 January, 2003, the Serbian Parliament Speaker, Natasa Micic, becameacting President of Serbia until fresh elections can be held following theamendment of the Serbian Constitution .The Montenegrin Parliament also has a four-year term . Early elections for theMontenegrin Parliament were held on 20 October, 2002, resulting in a clearvictory for the Democratic Party of Socialists (D.P.S .) . Montenegro'sgovernment is headed by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic . Filip Vujanovic(D.P .S .) was elected President on 11 May 2003 (see below) .The Republics are required to adjust their constitutions to the new federalConstitutional Charter within six months after its promulgation and adjust lawsand other regulations to the Charter and laws of the Union by the end of 2003 .KosovoOn 10 June 1999, following the implementation of United Nations Resolution1244, Kosovo was put under international administration, that is, aprotectorate of the NATO led Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the U .N . civilianadministration (United Nations Mission in Kosovo, U .N.MIK) within the greaterF .R .Y . Under U .N . Resolution 1244, SiM's sovereignty over Kosovo isconfirmed, but the resolution calls for greater and genuine autonomy for theprovince through gradual devolution of administrative powers from U .N .MIK tothe democratically elected local political representatives .Recent Political DevelopmentsSerbia and Montenegro GovernmentOn 17 March, the new federal parliament of SiM voted to approve thegovernment of President Svetozar Marovic, who will also chair the Council ofMinisters . Marovic is one of the founders of the main Montenegrin politicalforce, the Democratic Party of Socialists (D.P.S .) . He has been a deputy in theMontenegrin parliament since he entered politics in the early 1990s . Theparliament also elected three Serb and two Montenegrin ministers . Serbianominated Goran Svilanovic (Civic Alliance of Serbia G .S .S .) as ForeignMinister, Boris Tadic as Defence Minister (Democratic Party D .S .), and RasimLjajic as Human Rights and Minorities Minister (Democratic Party of SandzakD.P .-S .) . Montenegrins Branko Lukovac and Amir Nurkovic (SocialDemocratic Party S.D .P .) will serve as Ministers for International EconomicRelations and Internal Economic Relations respectively . Only the Ministries ofTravel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP . and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP ., August, 2004 86