The facts
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić resigned on September 27 after more than a year of student-led protests and public anger over allegations of government corruption, the BBC reported. The protests were galvanised by the 2024 collapse of the Novi Sad railway station's roof, which killed 16 people. Demonstrators believed the disaster reflected corner-cutting.
Vučić, who cannot run for a third presidential term under Serbia's constitution, had announced his intention to resign in June. Addressing supporters outside the presidential building in Belgrade, he said his administration had preserved peace and stability during his nine-year tenure. He is standing to be his Progressive Party's candidate for prime minister in snap parliamentary elections in late October, which were called after protesters added a vote to their demands.
Parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabić, also a Progressive Party member, becomes interim president until a new president is elected, meaning Serbians will vote twice before the end of the year. Before leaving, Vučić used his constitutional powers to pardon 49 people, including 23 students and party loyalists suspected of offences related to what he called the "terrible events we have gone through over the past year and a half," according to public broadcaster RTS.
Our take
Aleksandar Vučić has resigned, and like every strongman chased out by students, he left through a door that opens straight into his next office.
Look at the sequence. More than a year of protests over a train station roof that collapsed and killed 16 people. Crowds accusing his government of corruption and cutting corners. So he quits. Then, on his way out, he signs 49 pardons. Then he announces he's running for prime minister. Resignation is a generous word for a costume change.
The pardon list is the tell. Twenty-three students make it look merciful. The party loyalists riding along on the same list make it look like a going-away present for the team. Forgive a few kids so the cameras have something to film, then quietly clear your own guys before you move desks.
His farewell speech said his government preserved "peace and stability." Sure, if stability means the same man running the country from a different chair. The interim president is from his party. The October ballot has him at the top of it. The only thing that actually changed hands in Belgrade is the fucking letterhead.
Serbia's protesters spent a year in the streets asking for accountability for a roof that fell on people. Vučić answered by rearranging the furniture and asking them to vote for him again in October.
