Serbia’s President Vucic says elections will be held in the next 3 to 4 months

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic on Monday said that early general elections in the Balkan country will be held in the next three to four months, and reiterated he will resign the presidential post ahead of the vote.

Vucic offered no exact dates. At a rally Saturday, he told supporters that it was likely the last time he would address them as president and said he will step down within weeks.

The move is widely seen as a political maneuver that would allow Vucic to become prime minister, formally the most powerful office in the country. Vucic is serving his second presidential term and is barred from running again.

“Yes, it is logical that we will have elections soon, and when I say soon I mean the next three-four months,” Vucic said. He added he is yet to decide whether to seek the prime minister’s post if his Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, wins the future parliamentary vote.

“Whatever I decide and whatever decision I make, it will be transparent, just like I have done by announcing my resignation,” he said, adding he could step down any time in July, August or September. “It will be no surprise.”

Once Vucic formally resigns, the presidential ballot must be held within the next 90 days. Regular presidential and parliamentary elections in Serbia are due next year.

Vucic has faced more than a year of mass street protests that first started in response to a train station tragedy in Serbia’s north which killed 16 people. A youth-led movement demanding accountability for the station canopy collapse has shaken Vucic’s firm grip on power more than ever in the past.

Before he became president in 2017, Vucic had previously already served as prime minister.

The populist leader has gradually tightened his rule since his right-wing SNS party came to power in 2012. He has pushed back aggressively against the protesters, and has faced European Union criticism over Serbia’s democratic backsliding, including a media clampdown.

Hundreds of people have been detained while protesters and international human rights groups have accused Serbian police of using excessive force and carrying out arbitrary arrests.

Anti-government protesters have blamed the fall of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on alleged corruption-fueled negligence in big state infrastructure projects.

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