Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has stepped down as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), following anti-government protests against two mass shootings that killed 18 people this month.
On Saturday, Vucic told an SNS congress that he would remain head of state, but that a new approach was needed to unite the country.
“A slightly different approach is needed to unite a greater number of those who want to fight for the victory of patriotic Serbia … a successful Serbia that will focus on its citizens, for a country that will not look for reasons for division, but for unification and togetherness,” said the 53-year-old.
The move came a day after tens of thousands of people from across Serbia and from neighbouring Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia rallied in the centre of the Serbian capital Belgrade in a show of support for Vucic after the massive anti-government protests against the shootings.
Another anti-government protest was scheduled for later on Saturday.
Leaders of the SNS accepted Vucic’s resignation offer at the party congress in Kragujevac, central Serbia, and appointed defence minister Milos Vucevic to replace him, as Vucic had proposed.
Opposition parties and rights watchdogs have long accused Vucic and the SNS of autocracy, stifling media freedoms, violence against political opponents, corruption and ties with organised crime.
In a subsequent development, Serbian Defence Minister, Milos Vucevic, has however been elected the new president of the SNS (Serbian Progressive Party).
Vucic will stay in office as the president of Serbia.
