Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić has proposed holding a referendum to allow voters to decide whether to oust him from office. Vučić said that if the results show that he does not have the backing of the electorate, then he will resign immediately.
The call comes after weeks of protests in Serbia’s major cities: demonstrators are venting their anger at not only local authorities, but at the government itself for the November collapse of a train station roof in the northern city of Novi Sad, which killed fifteen people.
The protesters, led by university students, are accusing Vučić’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of corruption and nepotism. The station building was renovated twice in recent years in a deal with Chinese state companies, and critics believe that the sloppy reconstruction work may have resulted from corruption.
Students at state universities in Belgrade, Kragujevac, and Nis have been blockading classes for weeks to demand the release of all documents relevant to the renovation of the station.
The tragedy led to the resignation of Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesić in November. Serbia’s prosecutors filed charges against thirteen people over the collapse, including Vesić and several state officials.
The nationalist Progressive Party has been the dominant force in Serbian politics for more than a decade, with Vučić first serving as prime minister and, since 2017, as president. He won the 2022 presidential election with 60% of the votes, while his party received 48% in the parliamentary elections in 2023.
Yet an anti-government, foreign-funded NGO, the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) has now published a survey, stating that 61% of the population backs the student protests, and 52% want Vučić ousted from office.
The revelations prompted Vučić to call for a referendum, which would in effect be a vote of confidence. He stated that if what the NGO said was true, he could not remain president of Serbia, and he would resign the following day, despite his mandate not expiring until 2027.
Such a referendum would have to be initiated by the parliament, requiring the signature of two-thirds of parliament—167 out of the 250 MPs. The ruling party has offered 100 signatures, and Speaker Anna Brnabić has called for the opposition to supply the remaining 67.
“I hope that CRTA and those who commissioned the research, according to which Vučić does not have sufficient support from the citizens, do not just want to exert pressure and deceive. If the opposition does not submit signatures for this initiative … it will only create additional tension and be their way of destabilizing Serbia,” Brnabić told the Sarajevo Times.
