BELGRADE -- Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic Tuesday named a 56 year-old business executive as prime minister of Serbia, and has called for the formation of a national unity government.
Mirko Marjanovic, a leading economist of one of Belgrade's largest import-export companies, was proposed by Milosevic in a letter sent to the 250-seat Serbian assembly, which is to meet later this week.
'I believe that Mirko Marjanovic will sucessfully contribute to the economic revival of the country, and that he will wholeheartedly engage himself in the forming of a government of national unity' said Milosevic.
In his letter, Milosevic praised Marjanovic for his contribution to a new economic reform program the government instituted Jan. 24 to stabilize hyperinflation that reached one million percent at the end of the year.
Milosevic also said a national unity government should be composed of 'the most capable people, regardless of their party afiliation.'
But the leader of Serbia's largest opposition party, the Serbian Renewal Movemement, Vuk Draskovic, immediately said his party would not support a vote for the creation of a national unity government.
The inability of assembly members to come to a consensus forced Milosevic to dissolve parliament Oct. 20, 1993, when his government faced a no-confidence vote.
After Dec. 19, 1993 legislative elections, when Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia fell three votes short of an absolute majority in parliament with 123 seats out of 250, the new assembly bickered for two weeks over who would become the new chairman.
The assembly chairman, Petar Tomic, as well as the prime minister designate Marjanovic, are both members of Milosevic's party.
