Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic officially resigned from office on Sunday evening, September 27, 2026, stepping down during his second term to head the electoral list of his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) for the position of Prime Minister.
The move comes ahead of snap parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25, following nearly two years of relentless student-led protests.
Addressing reporters and supporters from the Presidential Palace in Belgrade at 8:00 PM local time, Vucic announced his decision to cut short his presidential mandate, which was set to run through May 2027.
“I am resigning as president,” Vucic said during his address. “This is the last evening for me in this building. Tomorrow morning, I will hand over my duties to the parliament speaker. I want to compete as an ordinary man, as one of the people.”
The snap elections follow months of sustained public pressure initiated by a student-led anti-corruption movement. The civil unrest began following the November 2024 collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people.
The disaster triggered widespread accusations of government negligence and systemic corruption, sparking some of the largest street demonstrations in Belgrade and Novi Sad since 2000.
Opposition groups, including the coalition Students Win and the pro-Western alliance European Serbia, transformed initial demands for accountability into a call for immediate parliamentary polls.
Spokesperson for the Students Win movement, Nikola Ristić, addressed a crowd gathered outside the National Assembly in Belgrade shortly after Vucic’s broadcast.
”This resignation is not a gift; it is a direct result of two years of unyielding pressure from citizens and students on the streets,” Ristić said. “He is trying to reset his power, but the demand for clean governance remains unchanged.”
Under the Constitution of Serbia, National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić assumes the role of acting president for up to 90 days, during which early presidential elections must be formally organised.
”I will assume acting presidential duties on Monday morning and immediately fulfill the constitutional requirement to coordinate both the upcoming parliamentary vote and the presidential election timeline,” Brnabić stated during a brief news conference at the National Assembly building.
Minutes prior to signing his resignation, Vucic exercised his presidential powers to grant executive clemency to 49 individuals. The pardons cleared prosecution records for several party loyalists alongside 23 student protesters detained during political clashes over the preceding 18 months.
Vucic, who has dominated Serbian politics as either prime minister or president since 2014, was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive presidential term. By shifting to the parliamentary ballot, he aims to secure the premiership and maintain control over the country’s political trajectory.
Both the parliamentary elections on October 25 and the first round of early presidential elections, expected by late December, will determine whether the SNS retains its majority.
