Vucic: I'm Resigning Sunday Evening, Around 8 PM
The president gave the exact time of his resignation for the first time while in New York, Sunday evening around 8 PM. He said he will also explain his decision then.
In brief
- Aleksandar Vucic will submit his resignation as President of Serbia on Sunday, September 27, around 8 PM
- Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will temporarily take over presidential duties, for up to three months
- The deadline for presidential elections is December 26, according to estimates by the portal Serbiantimes
- Parliamentary elections are already set for October 25, with the government working in a technical mandate in the meantime
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters in New York that he will submit his resignation from the post on Sunday evening, around 8 PM, and said he will use the occasion to explain his decision. He made the statement on Thursday evening, September 24, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Srpske Novine had already reported the date of the resignation, Sunday, September 27. What is new from Thursday evening is the exact time, and the announcement that Vucic will call reporters together and address the public when he does it.
“On Sunday evening I will submit my resignation, so I will let you know, I think it will be around eight o’clock in the evening. I will inform you, I will call all of you, you will hear my explanation and everything else,” Vucic said.
With that, the president specified a time for the first time. Until now, only the date had been known.
What the Law Says About the End of a Mandate
Under Article 14 of the Law on the President of the Republic, the president’s mandate ends once the resignation reaches the National Assembly, and the president is required to inform the public about it and may explain it. Until a new head of state is elected, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will temporarily take over the duty, for up to three months at most. Under the law, she is the one who calls the presidential election.
No fewer than 30 and no more than 60 days may pass between the day the election is called and the day of the vote. The portal Serbiantimes, counting from the latest possible date the election could be called, estimates that the deadline for the presidential election is December 26.
Parliament has already been dissolved in the meantime, and the government is working in a technical mandate until the early parliamentary election, set for October 25. That means the presidential and parliamentary elections, if Vucic does submit his resignation at the announced time, will fall on separate dates: the parliamentary vote in late October and the presidential one by late December at the latest.
Putin and NIS
Vucic also announced in New York that he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before his mandate ends, a conversation tied, among other things, to a resolution for Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), the Serbian oil company. “I’m waiting for a conversation with President Putin. I might know something after that,” he said, adding that he hopes to have a clearer answer on a solution for NIS within two to three days.
Commenting on world events while in New York, the president also said that “the fate of the world is being decided today at the Trump and Xi summit,” referring to the meeting between the American and Chinese presidents, which he said was the main topic of conversation in New York.
Whether the resignation will actually be submitted at the announced time, and whether the explanation Vucic promised will add anything new to what he has already said, will be known on Sunday evening, around 8 PM.
