The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, dissolved Parliament on Wednesday, the 9th, and called early parliamentary elections in the country for October 25. The decision represents a test for his stay in power after nearly two years of street protests that have shaken his government.
Vučić, who cannot run for another presidential term, said he intends to run for prime minister.
He issued a decree dissolving the 250-member Parliament, paving the way for the vote. He said the elections were necessary due to the ongoing tensions and divisions in the Balkan country.
“We have had enormous turbulence,” Vučić said in a speech. “We need electoral results that clearly show the will of the people and the direction in which Serbia is heading.”
The vote will take place in an environment of high political tensions, with the populists in power seeking to stay in government despite broad public discontent.
The protests began after a tragedy at a train station on November 1, 2024, that killed 16 people in northern Serbia. The demonstrators demanded accountability for the collapse of the concrete roof in the city of Novi Sad and an end to corruption, which they regard as the cause of the poor quality of renovation works.
Daily protests, sometimes drawing hundreds of thousands of people, have shaken Vučić more than at any other moment since he came to power in 2012.
The president and his right-wing party, the Serbian Progressive Party, have been accused of restricting democratic freedoms and ties to organized crime, accusations he denies. Serbia’s bid to join the European Union has been paralyzed under Vučić’s government, which maintains close ties with Russia and China.
Vučić faced additional pressure from the EU last week due to the public homage to war criminal Ratko Mladić, former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, who was buried as a hero in Serbia on Monday, the 7th, despite his genocide conviction by a UN tribunal.
The electoral list for the Parliament, supported by students, is expected to include university professors and experts. The movement has gained enormous support among Serbia’s 6.5 million voters, many of whom are disillusioned with traditional politicians.
Vučić harshly repressed the protests, raising international concern about police violence and arbitrary detentions. He accused the students and professors leading the protests of intending to “destroy the state.” Hundreds of people were detained or lost their jobs for supporting the protests.
Vučić reiterated on Wednesday that “it would be wrong to presume” that the political tensions were the result of internal disagreements alone in Serbia. He said that “we had unrest, clashes and a divided society, with considerable interference from foreign powers.”
He did not specify which foreign powers were alleged, nor did he provide any evidence for his claims.
Vučić said he would resign the presidency in the coming weeks to be able to join the campaign for the parliamentary elections. He cannot run again for the presidency after serving nearly two full terms. An early presidential election will be held separately.
Analysts say that the so-called Student List represents a serious challenge to the populists in power. Dejan Pavlovic, of Belgrade’s Faculty of Political Sciences, compared the situation to this year’s elections in Hungary, which toppled another authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán.
Pavlovic predicted that a scenario could unfold, “similar to Hungary, where the challenger, without media support and without resources, still manages to deliver a very convincing victory.”
The populists gradually took control of Serbia’s institutions and major media outlets after coming to power in 2012. Source: Associated Press.
