Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic resigns to run for prime minister in October elections
· France 24Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic resigned Sunday ahead of the upcoming October 25 parliamentary elections.
Vucic, who has been Serbia’s prime minister or president since 2014, had announced that he would resign the presidency so he can formally pursue a bid to become prime minister if his right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party wins the October vote.
Vucic’s second presidential term would otherwise end in May next year. He is banned by the Serbian Constitution from seeking a third term
Hundreds of Vucic's supporters cheered him in front of the Presidency building in Belgrade's city centre.
"This is the last evening for me in this building," he told the flag-waving crowd minutes before resigning.
"I have faithfully served you and my fatherland, Serbia ... I am proud of what we have done together," he said.
The snap elections were a key demand of a student-led movement sparked by the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station that killed 16 people and was widely blamed on corruption.
The tragedy triggered some of Serbia's largest protests since the fall of Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, at times drawing hundreds of thousands of people into the streets.
Initial calls for a transparent investigation grew into demands for snap elections, which Vucic had repeatedly promised without setting a date.
Read moreSerbia’s student-led protesters wanted accountability. Now they’re calling for elections
Earlier this month, though, he called an October 25 vote, citing "major turbulence on the domestic political scene".
Under Serbia's constitution, outgoing parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will serve as interim president until a new one is elected. The presidential election must be completed within 90 days, with the campaign lasting between 30 and 60 days.
"By the end of December ... we will have the first round of presidential elections," Vucic said.
Minutes before resigning, Vucic used his constitutional powers to pardon dozens of people, including students and his party loyalists, suspected of offences during the protests.
"I have decided to pardon 49 people, 23 of them in connection with the terrible events we have gone through over the past year and a half," Vucic said, referring to the protests.
The snap parliamentary election next month pits Vucic's SNS and its allies against Students Win, a student-led anti-corruption movement, and European Serbia, an alliance of pro-Western opposition parties.
Students Win, European Serbia and other parties still have to nominate their presidential candidates.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)