Macut Proposes Dissolving Parliament, Vucic Has 72 Hours
Serbia's government meets today at 3:30 p.m. on a proposal to dissolve parliament, which PM Djuro Macut will announce after the session, the last step before elections can be called.
The Government of Serbia has called an extraordinary session for today, Monday, September 7, at 3:30 p.m., at which Prime Minister Djuro Macut is expected to present a proposal to dissolve the National Assembly. The government confirmed this to Tanjug, and the prime minister will address the public right after the session.
Minister without portfolio Novica Toncev also confirmed to FoNet that the extraordinary session had been scheduled, though he added he could not specify the exact agenda at that point. The government, in other words, had announced in advance what would be discussed, while one of its own members stayed reticent about the session’s content until it actually took place.
Dissolving the National Assembly is not a political gesture but a procedural step the law requires before the president can call parliamentary elections. The president has 72 hours from receiving the government’s reasoned proposal to issue a decree dissolving parliament and calling elections, or to reject the proposal and inform the public. The law further stipulates that no fewer than 45 and no more than 60 days may pass between the day elections are called and election day itself.
When could elections be held?
President Aleksandar Vucic has previously said elections could be held on October 18 or 25, and that he would call them by September 9 or 10 at the latest. In recent days, government officials have specifically mentioned October 25 as the voting date, although no formal decision had been made before today’s government proposal.
That raises a question of sequencing that Vucic himself had described differently in the past. Back in July, he said the government would resign first, and only then would elections be called. What is on the table today is dissolving parliament, not the resignation of Djuro Macut’s cabinet, which has been in office since April 16, after the Assembly acknowledged Milos Vucevic’s resignation on March 19. The government, in other words, stays in office even after today’s proposal. What changes is the makeup of parliament, not the government.
Deadlines already running
If parliament is indeed dissolved in the coming days, the election calendar fits into deadlines that are already set. The Republic Election Commission (REC) must define the format for submitting election lists by September 13. The deadline for submitting lists is October 4, twenty days before the possible election day, and each list must first collect at least 10,000 voter signatures, a threshold halved to 5,000 for minority lists.
The REC then has 48 hours to certify or reject a list, and a rejected list has the right to appeal. The voter register closes on October 9, fifteen days before the election, which finally settles who is eligible to vote. According to calculations cited by the weekly Vreme, at least 16, and possibly as many as 19, election lists have so far announced they will run, which would make for one of the most crowded ballots in recent years.
Vucic as list leader, opposition still negotiating
The Serbian Progressive Party’s Main Board has already decided that Aleksandar Vucic himself will lead the United Serbia list, and that he would be its candidate for prime minister if the list wins. That decision ties into a separate announcement, that Vucic will resign as president and enter the campaign as a private citizen. In that scenario, the role of acting president, despite the dissolved Assembly, would pass to its speaker, Ana Brnabic, and presidential elections would by law have to be called within 90 days at the latest.
On the other side, opposition parties are continuing negotiations over a joint run, with no unified agreement so far. Part of those talks is unfolding in parallel with today’s government session, meaning the parties will have to settle their coalitions within the same narrow window in which the formal lists are being put together.
Srpske.rs previously reported that Vucic planned to call elections on September 9 or 10, aiming to step down as president. Today’s government session is the first concrete formal move in that direction, while the final word, within 72 hours, rests with the president.
