Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who used to be the prime minister of the country, announced yesterday that he will resign from the presidency “in a few weeks”. According to the provisions of the Law on the President of the Republic, in that case he would be replaced by the current President of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, but for no longer than three months, which raised the question of a possible election calendar. writes “H1”.
“These are my last days and last weeks as president of the Republic… In a few weeks I will resign,” Vucic said at a rally of his supporters in Belgrade.
Vucic’s second presidential term ends in May 2027 and, according to the Constitution, he cannot run again. For months, he has been facing pressure from the student movement and anti-government protests to call early elections.
At the same time, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), from whose leadership Vucic formally stepped down in May 2023, is trying to push him to the position of prime minister. This would previously mean a victory for the progressives in the parliamentary elections, so that the SNS or the coalition it leads could nominate him for the mandate.
Regular presidential elections are announced by the President of the Assembly 90 days before the end of the term of office of the current head of state, so the elections should be completed within at least 30 and at most 60 days.
In the case of Vucic’s resignation, the law stipulates that extraordinary presidential elections will be called by the president of the parliament, so that they will be held no later than three months after the president is prevented from performing his duties, that is, from the expiration of his mandate before the expiration of the mandate for which he was elected.
Vucic told his supporters yesterday that he had offered the SNS leadership to lead the party and win the elections, including early parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2027. He proposed that the SNS list in the upcoming elections be called “United Serbia”.
Although early elections have been announced several times, they are still not in sight, which makes the electoral calendar in which SNS would try to extend its 14-year rule, “H1” writes, uncertain.
