Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated using AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results. Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic resigned on Sunday to try to become prime minister in upcoming snap parliamentary elections that will test his firm rule in the Balkan country after nearly two years of protests. Otherwise, Vucic’s second presidential term would end in May next year. The Serbian constitution prohibits him from seeking a third term and he said he was resigning to lead his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party in the October 25 elections. The populist ruler faces a major challenge in the election from a youth-backed movement that led protests sparked by the Nov. 1, 2024, train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people in the northern city of Novi Sad. University students demanded accountability for the tragedy. Their fight for justice and against corruption has become a strong movement that will try to overthrow the Vucic government after 14 years in power. Vucic himself has been prime minister or president for the past 12 years. “I resign from the position of President of the Republic,” Vucic said, reading the text of his resignation. His decision to run for prime minister is seen as both an attempt to retain a senior position and to boost his party’s chances against the student movement. In recent weeks, Vucic has toured the country tirelessly with live coverage in pro-government media. He has opened new roads, offered relief money and cheaper medicine, and visited voters in their homes. More recently, Vucic was filmed driving his brother’s car at some of the events. The prime minister in Serbia is formally more powerful than the president. But Vucic still assumed a dominant role during his two five-year terms, sometimes presiding over government sessions and routinely announcing all major decisions and plans. The Independent Bureau of Social Research (BIRODI) has filed a complaint alleging that Vucic has abused a public institution as president to promote his party, which he has dismissed. There has been no response from the anti-corruption authorities that are under government control. The presidential vote will be held later. Following Vucic’s resignation, the acting president will be close ally and former prime minister Ana Brnabic, who is the outgoing speaker of Serbia’s 250-member parliament. After a new Parliament is elected in the Oct. 25 vote, the new president will replace Brnabic, appoint the prime minister and schedule a presidential vote. Vucic and his party have been accused of rampant corruption, links to organized crime and clamping down on democratic freedoms, including critical media. The Serbian Progressive Party has gradually taken control of all state institutions since coming to power in 2012, while denying abuse of power and repeatedly pledging to fight corruption. The student-backed electoral slate includes experts, professors, professors, athletes and other little-known people from all walks of life. Student groups have been touring the country on bicycles as part of their campaign urging the rule of law and an end to corruption. Spectators welcome a group of university student activists at the end of their bike ride in Kragujevac, Serbia, on Saturday. (Marko Drobnjakovic/The Associated Press) Analysts say the student group and Vucic are close in the polls, presaging a tight race and a referendum-like atmosphere. Vucic’s allies, the Socialist Party, a pro-EU opposition alliance and several smaller groups, are also running. The authorities have put harsh pressure on protesters with police violence and arrests while Vucic accused, without offering evidence, his opponents and critical media of an intention to “destroy the state” under unspecified foreign influence. Earlier on Sunday he told Serbian state television RTS that foreign powers and unidentified people in the country plan to cause unrest on election night. The European Union has stalled under Vucic due to democratic backsliding and a refusal to join sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
