DPA
Belgrade
Serbian Defence Minister Milo Vucevic will replace President Aleksandar Vucic as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) after Vucic announced he would step down from the party post.
Party members elected Vucevic, 48, as the new chairman on Saturday with Vucic’s explicit support at a party congress in Kragujevac, 110 kilometres south of Belgrade. He had previously served as a vice-chair of the SNS since 2016.
Vucic has been determining the country’s fate under various official titles since 2012. Critics accuse him of ruling as an authoritarian. Vucic and his supporters control most of the media, judiciary and part of the economy.
There is little doubt in Serbia that Vucic will remain the sole centre of power in the country. Vucic has no plans to step down as president and Vucevic, his replacement as party leader, is considered a loyal follower.
Serbia’s constitution, in fact, stipulates that Vucic should have resigned as SNS party chairman after first becoming president in 2017.
Vucevic served as mayor of Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, from 2012 to 2022. Critics accused him of running the city in favour of business interests closely aligned with the SNS.
He became Serbia’s defence minister following national elections last year. Vucic announced his intention to step down as party leader at a mass rally in Belgrade on Friday night. He called on supporters to gather in the capital city amid a crisis triggered by two mass shootings that shook the country.