In the presidential election of November 14 1999 to decide the successor of Kiro Gligorov, Trajkovski defeated Tito Petkovski 52%-45%. He was scheduled to take office just five days later, on November 19, but because the results were disputed, parliament chairman Savo Klimovski became acting president until Petkovski's supporters lost their last appeal a month later. During his presidency, Trajkovski has had to deal with ethnic conflicts, much like other Balkan leaders, but worse than Macedonia had experienced in years. In 2001, there was an uprising by ethnic Albanians, which was of great concern to the international community for several months.