Milenkovic: Vucic to Wait for Regular Elections, Possibly in Early 2028

Local Elections in Serbia, June 2 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

A political consultant Dusan Milenkovic said on Dec. 29 that the large turnout for signing a form to voice support for holding snap parliamentary elections carried enormous political weight for the student movement, but would not have any impact on a decision to call the elections.

Speaking for BETA, Milenkovic said he didn’t expect Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to  call early parliamentary elections, as he was aware he would be defeated at the polls. Instead, he’d rather wait for the legally prescribed election day, “which might take place in early 2028.”

“Yesterday’s student action employed the methodology of a classic political campaign, and it will be of invaluable importance to them in organizing an election campaign, given that a large number of people across Serbia responded to the call. However, this will not lead to the elections being called any sooner, because Aleksandar Vucic is aware that he would lose. Vucic has said that elections will be held by the end of next year, but what he says is irrelevant,” Milenkovic explained in a comment for the agency.

The political consultant also said that the purpose of the latest student action was not to increase pressure and make a snap vote likelier, but to engage as many citizens as possible in further political processes.

When asked if the students and opposition parties could exert stronger pressure on the authorities to call early elections and improve the election process, Milenkovic said there was no move that would yield results in achieving either of those goals.

“Snap elections could take place if there were a serious betrayal among the Serbian Progressive Party’s leaders, or if a measure from abroad destabilized the national economy,” Milenkovic was explicit.