Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić proposed the prime minister-designate for the composition of the future Serbian government on Sunday, entrusting this responsibility to endocrinologist Đuro Macut, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade.
The Serbian government's mandate officially ended on March 19th after members of the Serbian Parliament stated that Prime Minister Miloš Vučević had resigned, which also entails the fall of the entire government.
Vučević announced his resignation in the midst of student protests on the morning of January 28, after several members and supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), of which Vučević is president, attacked a group of students with baseball bats in Novi Sad the previous night, breaking the jaw of one student.
The legal deadline for electing a prime minister and a new government is April 18th, and if that does not happen, the President of Serbia is obliged to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early parliamentary elections, which should be held within 45 to 60 days, which is the beginning of June.
The opposition, after suspicions that the December 2023 elections were rigged, is insisting on a transitional government or a government of experts that would establish the conditions for fair and democratic elections within a year. Serbian President Vučić, however, has repeatedly reiterated that "as long as he is alive" he will not agree to a transitional government and that "they can only kill him" because he will not allow "scum" to take power without elections and "ruin Serbia".
Vučić's choice as prime minister-designate is unexpected, as there has been speculation for the past few days that the formation of the government could be entrusted to a non-party person in order to cushion the political crisis and months of anti-government protests. The protests are led by a student movement, demanding political and criminal responsibility for the tragedy in Novi Sad, when a canopy collapsed on November 1 last year, killing 16 people, mostly young people.
A large part of the public sees responsibility in the government and corrupt practices, while they call the ruling student movement a "colored revolution".
Vučić believes that the new government will ease the great political tensions and growing discontent in society.
"I believe that Professor Dr. Đuro Macut possesses the professional and personal qualities, dedication and expertise to perform the duties of prime minister, and he convinced me that he can secure the election of the government," Vučić told reporters tonight, explaining his proposal.
He stated that he is confident that the government will be elected by April 18, before Easter, emphasizing that it has major tasks ahead of it - resolving regional issues, the issue of US tariffs, accelerating the European path and restoring the level of foreign direct investment, which has been 700 million euros lower since the beginning of the year than in the same period last year.
My recommendation to the president, said Vučić, will be to choose people who want to fight and push the country forward, said Vučić, emphasizing that he wants "Serbia to be one of the three fastest growing economies in Europe" this year.
In the first reactions to Vučić's election of a candidate from the opposition corps, it was assessed that this impersonation was "completely irrelevant" and that the candidate "will be a puppet of the president in an autocratic system".
The Serbia Center party compared the election of the new prime minister to "a rigged bingo in a village tavern", assessing that it does not matter who the prime minister-designate is "if Aleksandar Vučić is the manager".
The new government, said Vučić, must be suitable for the parliamentary majority, "and not some undemocratic bodies, mobs and streets", Vučić said, pointing out that "it will be like that" while he is the president of Serbia.
Vučić recalled his earlier messages that "there will be no transitional government," and that he is still guaranteeing this.
The Assembly of Serbia is controlled by the majority coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party, and the Speaker of the Parliament is Ana Brnabić, previously the Prime Minister.
Photo: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC
