Serbia’s Vucic Steps Down to Seek a New Seat of Power
BELGRADE: On a restless autumn evening, Serbia’s long serving leader stepped up to the Presidential Palace and closed one chapter of his political life to begin another. President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Sept. 27 that he was resigning to run for prime minister in snap elections set for Oct. 25.
Outside, supporters gathered and chanted his name. Inside, Vucic spoke plainly. “I am resigning as president,” he said, promising to hand his duties to the parliament speaker on 29th September (today). “I want to compete as an ordinary man, as one of the people,” he added. The law did not require him to leave office early. First elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022, he now heads the list of his right wing populist Serbian Progressive Party.
The announcement did not come out of nowhere. It follows nearly two years of unrest that began in tragedy. In November 2024, a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, killing 16 people. Many Serbians blamed corruption, and grief soon hardened into anger.
Students led the way. A simple call for a transparent investigation grew into one of the largest protest movements since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, at times drawing hundreds of thousands into the streets. Week after week, young people and ordinary citizens marched for accountability, honest institutions and the rule of law. Snap elections became their central demand. Vucic had promised them many times but never set a date, until earlier this month, when he pointed to “major turbulence” in domestic politics.
Only minutes before resigning, he used his constitutional powers to pardon dozens of people, including students and party loyalists, suspected of offenses during the protests.
Now the country waits. The movement that forced this vote was built on demands for justice, and those demands have not faded from the streets. The question hanging over Serbia is whether the ballot box will deliver the change its people have marched for.
