Serbian political parties agreed to hold an early general election on Jan. 21, 2007 after intensive consultations, a government minister confirmed on Thursday.

Serbian Minister of Economy Predrag Bubalo said the inter-party agreement on the date of parliamentary elections is part of the package for the adoption of the constitutional law.

This date is the earliest possible one accepted by all parliamentary parties in principle, he said, adding that the compromise was reached at the proposal of Serbian President Boris Tadic.

On Wednesday, the new constitution of Serbia was officially promulgated at a special parliament session in Belgrade. However, the parliament failed to agree on the text of the constitutional law for the implementation of the constitution.

Earlier on Thursday, Socialist Party of Serbia Whip at the Serbian parliament Ivica Dacic said Serbian parliament speaker Predrag Markovic and representatives of parliamentary parties reached agreement on the date of the new parliamentary elections.

"An agreement was reached to hold parliamentary elections on Jan. 21 and a general deadline for presidential elections is the end of 2007," Dacic said.

The election date could influence the timing of a decision on the fate of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province, where the Western powers are mulling the ethnic Albanian majority's demand for independence.

Talks over Kosovo's future status are under way under the auspices of the United Nations. Kosovo has been governed by the UN mission since 1999, when a 78-day NATO bombing campaign halted a crackdown by Serbian forces against Kosovo's separatist Albanian rebels.

Source: Xinhua