In 1993, the Slovak parliament elected economist Michal Kovac as newly-independent Slovakia's first president.

CNN: Saturday,

He may also be forced to give evidence in a case to do with the kidnapping in 1995 of the son of Slovakia's then president, Michal Kovac.

ECONOMIST: Slovakia: The arrest of Vladimir Meciar | The

By abstaining in a parliamentary vote for a new president, his three-party coalition looks set to keep the presidency vacant when the incumbent, Michal Kovac, leaves the job on March 2nd.

ECONOMIST: Slovakia