Ultra-nationalist leader Tomislav Nikolic resigned on Sunday from the powerful post of Serbian parliamentary speaker, paving the way for a government that excludes radical nationalists.
Nikolic's election on Tuesday had raised alarm among Western leaders who feared Serbia was headed back to the isolation of the era of authoritarian former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
"I'm resigning from the post as speaker of parliament," Nikolic told the assembly before the vote on his replacement.
The Radical Party leader quit after less than a week in the job under pressure from the pro-reformist Democratic Party (DS), the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and the neo-liberal G17 Plus who were preparing to vote for his replacement before opening a debate on forming a new government.
The appointment of Nikolic prompted a last-ditch deal between the three parties on Friday to form a power-sharing government blocking the ultra-nationalists from entering the new cabinet.
In the first few days since he took over the position, Nikolic has made a series of inflammatory comments, causing economic jitters and a flurry of diplomatic activity.
"God has created the world in six days and I have shaken it in two," Nikolic said Sunday in his closing remarks.
"I was elected parliamentary speaker by the people of Serbia... while you had to ask Brussels and Washington for help to dismiss me," he told the deputies of the so-called democratic bloc.
Nikolic's comment referred to numerous EU and US appeals to DS and DSS leaders in last several days to form a government and prevent the ultra-nationalists' return to power.
Following Nikolic's resignation, parliament will on Monday resume its session and begin debate on a new government that has to be elected by midnight Tuesday, according to the constitution.
Pro-European President Boris Tadic, whose DS will have majority posts in the new government, has proposed outgoing nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to lead the new government.
In the January 21 elections, the Radicals came first, winning 81 mandates in the 250-seat parliament, but not enough to form a government on its own.
Tadic, whose DS trailed with 64 seats, has since tried to negotiate an agreement on a new government with Kostunica, whose coalition won 47 mandates.
Following the stalemate in the talks, Kostunica's DSS supported Nikolic's election last week, raising fears of a creation of a hardline government and putting the final pressure on Tadic to resume negotiations and eventually agree to the proposed power-sharing deal.
Last May Brussels suspended talks on closer ties between Serbia and the European Union due to Belgrade's failure to arrest and deliver top war crimes fugitives, notably former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, wanted for genocide in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Top EU officials have strongly urged Tadic and Kostunica to form a government, promising to resume the talks on an association and stabilisation agreement as soon as Belgrade begins to fully cooperate with the UN war crimes court in The Hague.
