The Serbian President relinquished leadership of the Serbian ruling party SNS.
(Photo: IMAGO/Xinhua)
Kragujevac Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic replaces President Aleksandar Vucic at the helm of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The party congress of the SNS on Saturday in Kragujevac elected 48-year-old Vucevic as the new chairman at Vucic’s suggestion without opposition. He was also one of the vice-chairs of the SNS since 2016.
Vucic has been determining the country’s fortunes in various functions since 2012. Critics accuse him of an authoritarian style of government. Together with a narrow circle, he controls most of the media, the judiciary and part of the economy. According to the constitution, Vucic should have resigned as party chairman after taking up his first presidency in 2017.
In Serbia, nobody doubts that he will remain the informal and sole center of power in the country, because Vucevic is considered a loyal follower of the president. From 2012 to 2022, the law graduate was mayor of Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia. According to critics, he completely subordinated the administration to the business interests of controversial investors associated with the SNS. After last year’s elections, he became Minister of Defence.
Vucic recently announced that he would create a new people’s movement with himself at the top. This should appeal to people across party lines. At the same time, he himself remains a member of the SNS, he said on Saturday at the party congress in Kragujevac, 110 kilometers south of Belgrade.
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