BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vucic says he will resign as Serbia’s president even though he has almost a year left in his mandate. But few expect this means the man who has dominated Serbian politics for the past 14 years will step aside.Last week Vucic told a gathering of thousands of his supporters at a rally in central Belgrade that he would remain Serbia's president for "only a few more weeks."The 56-year-old politician served as deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, prime minister from 2014 to 2017, and since then as president. But he has already been elected president twice and is constitutionally barred from seeking a third presidential term.
Analysts say that by stepping down now, Vucic, who has said early general elections will be held in the Balkan nation in the next three to four months --they aren’t scheduled until December 2027 -- would open the door to returning as the head of government if his dominant Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) party wins the vote."His possible move to the position of prime minister would simply place him, constitutionally, where he already is -- the country's key political figure who makes all the important decisions," Dusan Spasojevic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service.RFE/RL sought comment from both the Office of the President and the SNS party concerning Vucic’s announcement, but neither responded.Street ProtestsThe political maneuvering comes at a time of turmoil for Vucic, who has faced more than a year of street protests, first sparked by the collapse of a train station roof in November 2024 that left 16 people dead.Accusations that corruption played a role in the deadly event fanned the unrest from students holding demonstrations into a broader general public protest against Vucic and his stranglehold on the country, which has led to criticism of democratic backsliding in Serbia.Vucic and his pro-government media accused the students and their professors of working with unidentified Western security services against the state to remove him from power together. He has never provided any evidence to back up his claims.
