Parliament speaker holds back date for presidential election
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A constitutional deadline is approaching with no sign of a ballot. Former President Aleksandar Vučić resigned on September 27, triggering a three-month window to find a permanent successor, yet the speaker of parliament has not called the vote. Ana Brnabić remains in the interim role while the clock runs.
The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is filling the vacuum with a campaign that critics say relies more on muscle than mandates. Reports have emerged of emergency medical staff being pressured to attend party rallies under threat of reassignment, while footage from Novi Sad appears to show a party activist provoking a street confrontation. One analyst predicts a catastrophic defeat for the SNS, though the party has yet to respond to the latest allegations of intimidation.
The intersection of private interests and public office remains busy. Businessman Bogoljub Karić has reportedly moved his Belgrade villa into the hands of Cyprus-based companies while campaigning, and a former European Commission director warns that a preference for direct government deals is feeding corruption. In the energy sector, analysts suggest Russia is finding the current lack of a deal with Hungary useful as it prepares to use its stake in the national oil company as leverage with whichever government eventually emerges.