Serbia's Vucic Weighs New Government, Snap Elections Amid Disarray

Student-led protesters rally in front of the ruling SNS party headquarters on January 28.

Student-led protesters rally in front of the ruling SNS party headquarters on January 28.

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the ruling party will decide in the next 10 days whether it will put forward a new government or call snap parliamentary elections after the resignation of the prime minister sent the Balkan nation's leadership scrambling for answers.

"In the next 10 days, we will make a decision whether we will go to elections or whether we will join the new government. We, as the Serbian Progressive Party [SNS], still do not have a candidate [for prime minister]," Vucic said on January 28.

The president was speaking at a news conference after the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic prompted the new crisis within the Serbian government.

SEE ALSO: Analysis: Serbian PM Milos Vucevic's Resignation May Not Stop Protests

Vucevic became the highest-ranking leader to resign amid mass protests in the capital, Belgrade, and elsewhere following the collapse of a concrete roof at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad on November 1, killing 15 people.

Student-led protests over the past three months have demanded accountability for those deemed responsible for the tragedy, with many alleging that corruption and incompetence were to blame.

Speaking at a hastily called news conference in Belgrade on January 28, Vucevic said he and Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric were stepping down to show accountability for what happened.

"The mayor of Novi Sad and I consider ourselves objectively responsible for what happened in Novi Sad and for that we are willingly paying the political price," Vucevic said.

“With the resignation of the prime minister, the entire cabinet falls, so practically speaking, the entire government is resigning,” he said, adding that Vucic had accepted his decision.

Vucic said he accepted Vucevic reluctantly because the prime minister did his job well and "didn't do anything wrong."

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'Students Will Not Be Silent' After Attacks On Fellow Protesters In Serbia

Vucic is a powerful figure in the country of some 6.8 million people as he attempts to maintain traditional close ties with Russia while promoting Serbia as a candidate for European Union membership.

SNS has dominated Serbia's politics for more than a decade, imposing its control at virtually all levels of power in the Balkan state.

SEE ALSO: 13, Including Former Cabinet Minister, Indicted Over Deadly Serbian Roof Collapse

According to the Serbian Constitution, if parliament fails to elect a new government within 30 days of the prime minister's resignation, the president is obliged to dissolve the National Assembly and schedule elections.

Vucic said he will organize consultations with all parliamentary parties on the next steps to be taken.

Opposition parties -- which have accused the populist SNS of irregularities in previous elections -- have demanded that a transitional government be created to ensure that any vote will be free and fair.

In June 2024 local elections, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that "serious irregularities" occurred, including "violations of voting security."

The latest protests, which began on a small scale in Novi Sad following the railway station tragedy, have grown to mass demonstrations. On January 27, farmers on tractors joined students and others in a 24-hour blockade of main thoroughfares in the capital.

Rally participants complained that beatings by people wielding baseball bats left several protesters injured.

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Serbia Mourns Victims Of Roof Collapse

For more than two months, students have also blocked more than 60 state universities, garnering the support of much of the academic community.

Many students said they were not satisfied with the resignations of Vucevic and Djuric and demanded additional transparency in the investigation into the collapse of the Novi Sad railway roof.

The collapse occurred after the station had been renovated twice in recent years by a Chinese-led consortium of four companies.

Serbian Railways insisted the renovation didn’t include the concrete overhang, but some experts disputed that, while many people blame corruption and poor construction oversight for the tragedy.

The Novi Sad High Public Prosecutor's Office has so far questioned 48 individuals, including officials from Serbian Railways and Infrastructure.

With reporting by Reuters