Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is withdrawing from the chairmanship of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). "This is the last evening that I will speak to you as chairman of the SNS," he said on Friday at a major rally of the nationalist presidential party in Belgrade. On Saturday, the SNS will hold a party congress. Vučić did not announce who will succeed him as the successor at the head of the party.
Since 2012, the Serbian president has determined the fate of the country in various functions. Critics accuse him of an authoritarian style of government. In this respect, his withdrawal from the top of the SNS has little significance. Vučić and his henchmen control most of the media, the judiciary and part of the economy.
However, two killing sprees with 18 deaths had shaken Serbian society at the beginning of the month. Vučić's opponents raised the question of responsibility during protests and demanded consequences. The opposition pointed to the president's aggressive rhetoric towards political opponents as well as to tabloid media, which they believe trivialize the violence of criminals and at the same time give Vučić a stage.
He recently showed visible nervousness because of the protests. He had organized the mass rally in Belgrade to demonstrate the stability of his power. Buses from all over Serbia, but also from neighboring countries with Serbian populations, brought the participants to the capital. The media reported that pressure was exerted on civil servants to go to Belgrade against their will.
Vučić had previously described the rally as the "largest people's assembly in Serbia's history" and held out the prospect of at least 140,000 participants. According to observations by a dpa reporter and independent Serbian media, tens of thousands of people came to the event in central Serbia.