Serbia has set to elect a new president on May 6, as the country's Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic signed an official decree on Thursday following the formal resignation of Boris Tadic.

Though his presidential term was due to end next year, Tadic on Wednesday said that he would cut his term short to pave way for an early presidential election, which falls on the same day of parliamentary and local elections.

Seeking for a third term, Tadic, leader of the ruling DS party, said "I will run in the election with a lot of optimism due to the positive trends in our country."

His main opponent was Tomislav Nikolic, head of Serbian Progressive Party, while several other candidates are also expected to take part in the presidential vote.

According to Serbian law, presidential election should be called no less than 30 and no more than 60 days ahead of the election day, while Parliament Speaker would temporarily assume the duties of the president of the republic during the interim period.

In this case, Dejanovic will take over the competencies envisaged by the Constitution, and will represent Serbia in the country and abroad, receive ambassador accreditations, and propose the presidential candidate to the parliament, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.