Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has resigned from office to contest snap parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25.
Vucic announced his resignation on Sunday at the presidential palace in Belgrade, saying he would hand over his duties to Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic.
“I am resigning as president,” Vucic said. “Tomorrow morning I will hand over my duties to the parliament speaker.”
The snap election was a key demand of a student-led protest movement that began after the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at a railway station in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people.
The incident sparked widespread protests, with demonstrators accusing authorities of corruption and demanding a transparent investigation and early elections.
Vucic, who has served as president since 2017, called the October 25 election earlier this month, citing what he described as “major turbulence on the domestic political scene.”
He is now seeking to become prime minister and will lead the electoral list of his Serbian Progressive Party.
“I want to compete as an ordinary man, as one of the people,” Vucic said.
Minutes before resigning, Vucic also used his constitutional powers to pardon 49 people, including students and members of his party who were suspected of offences linked to the protests.
“I have decided to pardon 49 people, 23 of them in connection with the terrible events we have gone through over the past year and a half,” he said.
Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will now serve as acting president for up to three months, during which a presidential election must be called.