VUČIĆ STEPS DOWN AS PRESIDENT

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 27 /SRNA/ - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić resigned from office this evening ahead of the country's early parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25.

Under the Law on the President, Vučić is to submit his written resignation to Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, who would then assume the role of acting president of the Republic for a maximum of three months. The president's term officially ends the moment his written resignation reaches Parliament. In an address at the Presidency, Vučić said presidential elections must be held by the end of December. Vučić also said he had signed decrees today pardoning 49 people, including 23 linked to protests, among them 12 members of the Novi Sad group associated with Mila Pajić and 11 people prosecuted over clashes with protesters involved in blockades. In his address, Vučić said whoever wins the confidence of the people would have to preserve peace and stability while protecting national interests and the Serb population in Kosovo and Metohija, and resist pressure to give up Kosovo and Metohija. "We will have to take greater care of people. Attention will have to be paid to progress, artificial intelligence and robotics, to ensuring that Serbia continues on its European path, maintains ties with its traditional friends in the East, and invests in innovation and education," Vučić said. He thanked citizens who had placed their trust in him in two presidential elections. "I worked diligently and hard, as few people in this job have done. In 15 years, I have not had even 20 days off. For me, the most important thing was to serve the people and the country," Vučić said. Before submitting his resignation, Vučić addressed thousands of supporters outside the Presidency building and said he looked to Serbia's future with optimism, saying the country had many successes ahead and would become even stronger. He said he had served the people and the country faithfully and had fought for a decent, successful and modern Serbia. Vučić served two terms as president of Serbia from 2017 until today and resigned, he said, so that he could take part in the election campaign as an ordinary citizen. While acting as president, the Parliament Speaker will have the authority to represent Serbia, command the Armed Forces, nominate a candidate for prime minister and promulgate laws by decree, and will also be required to call an early presidential election no later than 90 days after Vučić's resignation. Vučić dissolved Parliament on September 9 and called snap parliamentary elections for October 25 after a year and a half of protests by opposition-oriented citizens that followed the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse tragedy and led to the formation of a new political group, the Student List. This was Vučić's second presidential term, which under the Constitution would have expired in the spring of 2027, after which he would no longer have been eligible to run for president. The Serbian Progressive Party /SNS/, of which Vučić is a member, nominated him as its candidate for future prime minister and as the lead candidate on the electoral list "Aleksandar Vučić - United Serbia".