dpa
Belgrade
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has dissolved parliament and called a snap election for October 25, a move observers say is aimed at consolidating his grip on power.
On Wednesday, Vučić issued the dissolution by decree on the proposal of his government.
Parliamentary elections in Serbia are normally held every four years, but the last two, in December 2023 and April 2022, were also brought forward at Vučić’s request.
His term ends next year - and after two terms in office, he is not permitted to stand for re-election. Vučić has stated on several occasions that he is available to serve as prime minister in a new government and that he intends to step down from his post to do so.
Vučić has been under domestic political pressure ever since the canopy of a railway station in the northern town of Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people. Since then, there have been mass rallies against him, organized largely by students.
The demonstrators blame the government’s corruption and the authorities’ negligence for the disaster and are demanding Vučić’s resignation.
He has now attributed part of the blame for the tensions to foreign powers, which he said had created “unrest and a divided society.”
