Serbia Prime Minister Milos Vuchevich has given up after months of mass protests

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vuchevic resigned after national protests for the deadly collapse of a canopy at the train station.

He said he acted “to avoid further complication of things” and thus “no more tension in society.”

Fifteen people died in November when a concrete canopy at the train station collapsed in the city of Novi Sad. Since then, tens of thousands of people have regularly missed out on the street, requiring collapse accountability and protesting against corruption.

At a television address late on Tuesday, President Alexandar Vucic said he would decide within the next 10 days whether to hold a parliamentary election or set up a new government.

More than a dozen people have been charged with the incident in Novi Sad, including former Transport Minister Goran Vesik – who resigned days after that happened.

Students take a leading role with the protests, stopping traffic daily and blocking universities for months.

Last Friday, many Serbians remained out of work in response to a call for a common strike, while in December, about 100,000 people attended a demonstration in Belgrade. Much smaller protests took place in cities and cities.

The tension rose on Monday when during a 24-hour blockade of the busiest road on the road in the capital Belgrade, a student woman was injured in clashes between the opposition and the supporters of the ruling party.

That evening, President Vucic said he would pardon the university students and teachers who were faced with protests and announced a major change in the government, saying that he expects more than half of the ministers to be replaced.

In his address on Tuesday after an emergency meeting with the government, the president said he would sign pardons for 13 people on Wednesday.

He insisted that he and the government had welcomed the demands of student protesters for transparency about the restoration of the Novi Sad railway station.

Opposition parties call for a transitional government, which they say can create conditions for free and fair elections. But Vucic rejected these demands, saying that the Serbians “want normal people in power, not politicians who do not trust.”

Vucic also revealed that he was considering “three or four names” to inherit Vichevich – but added that he was open to other suggestions.

Vucevic, who is the leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, has been in service for less than a year.

Previously, he was Minister of Defense and was mayor of Novi Sad – the second largest city of Serbia – in 2012-20, during the early stages of the project for the restoration of the railway station.

VuceVic said Nov Sad Mayor Milan Djuric will fulfill “the most political of the demands of some of the most extinct protesters” and also resigned.

The question is now whether the departments will be sufficient to mount mostly young people who organize regular and increasingly detailed demonstrations.

The change in the government leader is less significant than it may initially appear because the true power in Serbia lies in Vucic.

Vucevic – a reliable ally of the president – said he hoped his decision to refuse as a Prime Minister would encourage protesters to “calm the passions and to return to dialogue.”

But this can also pave the path to the parliamentary elections if a new Prime Minister is not appointed within 30 days after the National Assembly confirms the resignation.

Vucic also pushes the idea of ​​a “advisory referendum” about his own role, saying he will withdraw if he loses this vote.

However, the change in power at the moment seems unlikely.

The ruling Serbian Progressive Party is well organized and international election monitors have noted that it dominates Serbia’s media space.

He conveniently won the latest parliamentary elections a little over a year ago. In contrast, the opposition remains broken and without many allies in the media.

The protesters’ response can be crucial to what happens afterwards.

If they are sufficiently considered by the Prime Minister’s resignation as a significant development, then the recent execution of demonstrations can decompose in a similar manner into a number of previous anti-government movements.

If they decide to continue to protest, turbulence in Serbia may be determined to continue.