President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić has announced that he will resign from his post on Sunday, 27 September. He stated this while appearing on Radio Belgrade, saying: 'On Sunday the 27th I am submitting my resignation'. If he formally submits it on that day, his presidential mandate will end on the same day.
Vučić is planned to enter the campaign for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October. The issue of resignation was also discussed last week, when he stated that after the resignation he would enter the election campaign 'as an ordinary citizen'. RTS explicitly stated that this was a resignation from the post of President of Serbia.
At the beginning of September, Vučić stated that he wanted to be a candidate for the Prime Minister. He also announced major personnel changes if the political bloc he leads were to receive the support of voters in the parliamentary elections. 'If we receive the trust of the citizens, it would be major changes: a maximum of 12 ministers', he said. If he receives support after the elections, he would form, he said, 'the smallest government in the history of Serbia', with the Prime Minister and a maximum of 12 ministers.
Vučić also announced significant changes among local officials associated with his political party. 'I will do my best to have at least 50 percent of mayors and presidents of municipalities replaced three months after the formation of the Government', he said. As a reason, he cited the dissatisfaction with the conduct of some local officials towards citizens. 'These people did not want to listen to their fellow citizens, they were thinking more about themselves than about them', he said. For these changes, he added, he would use the political influence he has in the Serbian Progressive Party.
Vučić also commented on the Student List, which was also officially declared for the parliamentary elections. Speaking about the first candidate on the list, Ilija Srban, he criticised his recent public appearances. 'Just listen to the last two interviews of the first on the Student List and if that is politics and if that is what you are supporting, where is the main thing without insisting that the newspaper is 'Vučić is unwanted', if you want to vote, I have nothing to do with that', he said. Srban had previously spoken in an interview about people whose families and surroundings love them and mentioned the nickname 'unwanted', but Vučić did not directly name him. Vu interpreted this as a message directed at him.
The Republic Electoral Commission has already declared the election list 'Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia' for the elections on 25 October. On 9 September, Vučić dissolved the National Assembly and announced early parliamentary elections for 25 October.
According to the Constitution of Serbia, the President of the Republic is temporarily replaced by the President of the National Assembly, and new presidential elections must be held within three months. Serbia, therefore, in addition to the early parliamentary elections on 25 October, would have to hold early presidential elections after Vučić's resignation.
