Serbia Parliament Deadlines: Brnabic Holds Two Offices
The Student List has an estimated majority, but reports from the Republic Electoral Commission, possible appeals and two differently counted deadlines, 30 and 90 days, come first.
After the snap parliamentary election of October 25, one person, Ana Brnabic, holds both offices involved in forming a new government: president of the Republic (acting) and speaker of parliament. The constitution of the National Assembly of Serbia depends on her moves, and the two sources that describe the procedure, RTS and BBC in Serbian, do not count the deadlines from the same moment.
The results are also not final yet. The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) proclaims the final results, and until then only estimates apply.
Who is running the procedure now?
According to BBC in Serbian, Aleksandar Vucic called the election for October 25 and then resigned on September 27, 2026. Parliament has been dissolved, the government is in a caretaker mandate, and the duties of president of the Republic are performed by Brnabic as speaker of the dissolved parliament. Both the president and parliament take part in electing a new government, which puts Brnabic in both processes.
For a comparable case, BBC in Serbian cites Milan Jovanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, who recalls what happened when the term of Serbian President Milan Milutinovic ran out:
“At the end of 2003 no president was elected, and Natasa Micic, then speaker of the National Assembly, also became acting president of the country. She called the parliamentary election and then entrusted the new government mandate to the coalition led by Vojislav Kostunica.”
When does RIK proclaim the results?
The figures differ from source to source. BBC in Serbian reports 52.65 percent of the vote for the Student List and 39.22 percent for the United Serbia list, citing preliminary RIK estimates. Those are not the figures from the 1:10 RIK snapshot we reported earlier (48.52 percent against 43.26 percent). On seats, RTS gives the Student List 141 seats on current estimates, BBC about 140, and projections by Ipsos and CeSID give United Serbia about 104 of 250.
RIK has 96 hours to publish official results once local election bodies deliver their summary reports, and those bodies also have 96 hours. Jovanovic tells BBC that most local bodies have already submitted their reports and that everything will most likely reach RIK by the evening of October 26.
Decisions by local bodies can be challenged by appeal, and some before the courts, so those decisions have to be awaited as well. The spring 2022 election is an example: final results took three months, because voting at a single polling station, in Veliki Trnovac, was repeated five times.
How long does it take to constitute the National Assembly?
The Constitution requires parliament to be constituted within 30 days, but the sources disagree on when that period starts. RTS counts it from the proclamation of final results. Jovanovic explains to BBC that the clock runs from the moment RIK hands its summary report to parliament, so if that happens next week, the month for constituting parliament would begin then.
The first session of the new convocation is scheduled by the speaker from the previous convocation, which means Brnabic. According to BBC, she first holds consultations with the parliamentary groups, and the majority, that is the Student List, proposes the constituent session. Jovanovic says the job should not take long:
“Since few lists cleared the threshold, the job is simple and everything can be done very quickly.”
The oldest member of parliament chairs the session until a speaker is elected. Parliament counts as constituted once the mandates of two thirds of the deputies are confirmed, which is at least 167 of 250. After taking the oath, deputies elect the speaker and deputy speakers and form working bodies. Electing the speaker takes at least 126 votes.
What comes before the government is elected?
The president of the Republic proposes a candidate for prime minister after hearing representatives of the elected lists. The candidate presents a program and proposes the cabinet, and parliament elects it by a majority of all deputies, meaning at least 126 votes.
The sources disagree here too. RTS says the government must be elected within 90 days of parliament being constituted. BBC writes that the law gives the governing majority three months from the end of the election process. According to RTS, if the government is not elected in time, the president of the Republic must dissolve parliament and call a new election.
BBC recalls earlier timelines. The government of Zoran Djindjic was elected 33 days after the election of December 23, 2000, and the government of Vojislav Kostunica in 2007 after 114 days. The government of Mirko Marjanovic took about six months, while the government of Ana Brnabic was formed after more than 120 days, which BBC describes as a record.
