Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has warned that he will take a step back in the face of the student movement that has been demanding the overthrow of the regime controlled by his party for a year and a half. At a large pro-government rally in Belgrade, in front of supporters brought from all over Serbia, the Serbian president said that he will stay in office for only a few more weeks.
"I will only be president for a few more weeks, then I will resign," Vučić declared.
Vučić's withdrawal does not mean that he is leaving politics. He will continue to lead the Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, in the upcoming parliamentary elections, while this time the ruling list will compete under the name "United Serbia".
"We will win more convincingly than ever before," he told supporters.
What remains unclear after the resignation announcement are the institutional deadlines: Vučić did not say when exactly he will resign, nor when he will dissolve parliament, a necessary condition for early parliamentary elections.
Reuters ' report explains the move as a maneuver that could move Vucic from the presidency to a more executive position.
"Vucic is unlikely to leave the political scene, as his resignation could pave the way for him to become prime minister if his party triumphs in parliamentary elections," Reuters writes.
The agency sees the resignation as part of Vučić's long pattern of personal power in Serbia.
"This would continue a long trend, according to which power in Serbia follows Vucic, regardless of his title," Reuters points out.
Serbia is likely on the verge of recycling Vučić. If he leaves the presidency, he could return as prime minister. In the Serbian political system, where real power depends on control over the party, the media, institutions and patronage networks, the title may change, but the command center may remain the same.
Reuters quotes analyst Radivoje Grujic, who clearly summarizes this interpretation:
"This is not the end of Vučić at all. He already has a plan, a plan that certainly does not mean he will retire from politics, quite the opposite."
Al Jazeera places the resignation announcement against the backdrop of student protest pressure. According to it, the news comes “against months of massive student-led anti-government protests that have rocked the country.”
These protests began after the Novi Sad tragedy, where a train station shelter collapsed and killed 16 people. For students, the opposition, and rights groups, it was the result of a system where corruption, tenders, public construction, and impunity have become the model of governance.
Al Jazeera recalls that hundreds of people have been detained during the protests and that the Serbian police have been accused by the European Union of "excessive use of force and arbitrary arrests."
Euractiv sees Vučić's rally as a de facto opening of the government's campaign. According to it, the rally with the slogan "Serbia, One Family" is widely seen as the launch of the SNS campaign and a response to the student protests.
In this sense, the announced resignation is an attempt to regain political initiative. Vučić is trying to turn the crisis from the streets to the ballot box, from a protest into an electoral battle organized by him.
However, the fact that Vučić is announcing his resignation before the end of his term shows that the protests have produced a political effect, and here there is a significant difference with Albania.
In Serbia, after 12 years at the head of government or state, Vučić has chosen to announce his resignation and seek a new mandate through early elections. International media agree on one point: his move is a response to 18 months of political pressure and student protests that have changed the internal balance.
In Albania, the picture is completely different.
Edi Rama is entering his 13th year as prime minister and has given no sign that he will question his mandate due to the protests, political crises or terrible scandals that his rule has produced. On the contrary, his response has been consistently that the government's mandate stems from the elections and that protesters who demand his resignation can go to hell./Lapsi.al
