Belgrade - President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and their Socialist Party (SPS) partners in Serbia's ruling coalition on Tuesday tied up loose ends left dangling three months after elections by finally appointing a mayor for Belgrade. After months of wrangling - and a major change of heart by the SPS - 58 of 110 representatives in the city hall voted DS deputy chief Dragan Djilas into the powerful post for the next four years.
The DS and late strongman Slobodan Milosevic's SPS buried the hatchet in June to form a pro-European Serbian government, but agreement remained elusive at local level in Belgrade.
The deal ending the deadlock included the support of a third party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a fiercely anti-Milosevic DS splinter group, which toned down its animosity to the SPS in order to take part in governing Belgrade.
The LDP is not part of the coalition at national level.
Djilas, 41, was elected two days ahead of a legal deadline which would have forced a repeat vote for the Belgrade municipal authorities.
The outcome is in stark contrast to early signals from the SPS after the May 11 parliamentary and local polls.
Days after the poll, the Belgrade SPS announced a coalition to rule the capital with the nationalist bloc of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and former premier Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).
That deal was, however, overruled by the SPS top policy-making body.
In the position of the kingmaker after the poll - the party decided to shed its Milosevic-era image and opt for an alliance with Tadic, a favourite of the West.
Outraged nationalists accused the SPS - their allies under Milosevic - of selling out to Tadic, but did not obstruct Tuesday's vote in the Serbian assembly. They had earlier filibustered proceedings and forced a month-long recess.
The break in the national legislature prevented Serbia from passing a pre-membership agreement with the European Union and a crucial energy deal with Russia.
