Vucic Starts Talking About Early Elections In Serbia
- 29.01.2025, 10:43
This was a reaction to the prime minister's resignation.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has admitted the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections in April. This was a reaction to the resignation of the Prime Minister amid large-scale anti-government protests in the country.
This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Reuters.
The Serbian President said in a television address that his SNS party (Serbian Progressive Party) should decide within 10 days whether to form a majority government or hold snap parliamentary elections.
He specified that new elections could be held in April.
According to observers, the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has destabilised the Vucic-controlled government and prompted the opposition to call for establishing an interim government.
Specifically, the opposition Kreni-Promeni party has called to create an interim government made up of experts endorsed by students.
At the same time, the Serbian president emphasised in his current address to the nation that the interim government ‘is out of the question’.
It is worth noting that although Vucic's party won a landslide victory in the early parliamentary elections in 2023, it has come under increasing pressure recently.
Criticism of the Serbian Government and Anti-Government Protests
Opposition parties and human rights activists accuse Vucic and his SNS party of vote-buying, suppression of media freedom, violence against opponents, corruption and links to organised crime.
The Serbian president and his allies deny the allegations.
Serbian Government Resignations Due to Rallies
Amid growing protests in Serbia, which began after the roof collapse at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad last November that killed 15 people, and which are still gaining momentum, the ministers of trade, as well as of construction, transport and infrastructure, have resigned.
However, that did little to calm the protesters down. Thousands of students, teachers and other workers participating in the protests blame the corruption in the Vucic government for the disaster at the Novi Sad station.
Thus, at a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Vucevic said after announcing his resignation that he ‘took this step to defuse tensions.’ He added that the mayor of Novi Sad would also resign.
According to the former prime minister, ‘we have satisfied all the demands of the most radical protesters’.
Vucic also called on the party's opposition political forces not to boycott the parliamentary elections, if they take place.
Earlier it was reported that an anti-government rally started in the Serbian capital Belgrade in November 2024. It came after the disaster at the railway station, which killed people.