Serbia President Vucic dissolves parliament, calls snap elections amid protests

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dissolved parliament on Wednesday and called snap parliamentary elections for October 25, bringing forward a vote that was originally scheduled for next year.According to Reuters, the election comes after nearly two years of anti-government protests in Serbia, sparked by the November 2024 collapse of a railway station awning in Novi Sad that killed 16 people."Were the elections necessary for us if there were no such ​tensions, if there were no such political conflicts, certainly they would not be necessary," Vucic said in a televised statement. He added that ​any delay in the election "would threaten the survival ⁠of democracy."Vucic has been Serbia’s dominant political figure since 2014, serving as either president or prime minister. He was prime minister from 2014 to 2017 before becoming president.His ruling Serbian Progressive Party nominated him on Saturday to run for prime minister in the October election. It remains unclear whether Vucic will resign as president before the parliamentary vote.The student-led protest movement, which has organised some of Serbia’s largest demonstrations in decades, has not yet said whether it will support a candidate or political bloc.Pollster CRTA said the election would test support for Vucic after months of anti-government protests, while his political opponents face a difficult challenge in the vote.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.