Serbia’s president Vučić resigns from leading ruling party

Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, has announced that he will no longer be the leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPS), N1 reports.

Vučić vouched for Miloš Vučević, the current Defence Minister and the vice president of SPS, to become his successor, noting that Vučević “has been with the party from the very start”.

“I knew his father who was one of the most respected lawyers in Novi Sad [Serbia’s second largest city]. I know he hails from a good family, and I know how devoted he is to the party. I’m certain he will do a great job with the support you and I will provide him,” the Serbian president said.

Vučić also stressed that he “loves the party so much” and is never going to leave it. He also said he was very proud to have led “the best party in the country for so many years”. Vučić took the position of the SPS leader in May 2012.

The SPS party held a rally in Serbia’s capital Belgrade yesterday. The country’s president started the event with a minute of silence to pay respects to the victims of shootings at Belgrade’s Vladislav Ribnikar school and the Mladenovac community.

Serbia’s independent media reported that SPS hired over 2,000 buses to bring people to the rally.

Dozens of thousands of protesters have been rallying in Belgrade for three weeks under the “Serbia against violence” slogan. The protesters demand that numerous ministers resign and that two pro-state TV channels be closed for “propaganda of violence and vulgarity”. The next protest rally is scheduled for today, 27 May.