Vucic: Without Agreement Between Regime and Opposition, Elections Will Be Called

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Should the regime fail to reach an agreement with the opposition, a parliamentary election will be called and the nascent Movement for the People and the State will participate in the vote, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on May 28.

Vucic explained that, if he does meet the majority of the demands made by the opposition – which has held several protests in the capital, titled “Serbia Against Violence” – and the rallies continue, he will call a snap election. The opposition can then choose to run or boycott, he said in an evening appearance on Pink TV.

“While it is up to me – which means for the next four years while I am president of the state – there will be no interim government, unless I’m killed or die of natural causes. There isn’t a power on this earth that could make me [accept a provisional government],” Vucic reiterated several times during the interview.

The president also underlined that Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic will not be removed from office, which is one of the demands the opposition made in the wake of two mass-murders in the country: the May 3 shooting at Belgrade’s Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, and the May 4 shootings in the Mladenovac area. A total of 18 people died and over 20 were wounded in the attacks.

Vucic also confirmed that his Movement for the People and the State will officially be founded on June 28, when Serbs celebrate St. Vitus Day, and expressed his certainty that the Serbian Progressive Party – whom he headed until a few days ago – will join the organization and enter the elections as part of the Movement.