Serbia's Vucic nominates medical professor as prime minister

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has nominated a politically inexperienced medical professor, Djuro Macut, to become prime minister after the previous occupant resigned during anti-government protests.

Demonstrations have spiralled since the collapse of a railway station roof in November killed 16 people, with protesters denouncing government corruption and incompetence in the biggest challenge to Vucic's 12-year grip on power.

The government denies the accusations and says Western intelligence agencies are backing a push to destabilise the Balkan nation of 6.6 million people.

Vucic announced his nominee in a public address late on Sunday, saying Macut needs to propose a cabinet for a new government to be formed by April 18. The 62-year-old lectures in endocrinology at Belgrade University and has backed Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the past.

Opposition parties scoffed at Macut's nomination, saying he would be a figurehead for Vucic.

"The prime minister-designate can be anyone or nobody as long as Vucic remains the head of the state," said Pavle Grbovic, head of the Movement of Free Citizens.

"Knowledge about polycystic ovaries is not a reference for running the government, which requires a completely different kind of expertise," said Boris Tadic, a former president and head of the opposition Social Democratic Party.

The government-controlled parliament is expected to endorse Macut, who will succeed SNS head Milos Vucevic after his resignation in March.

Protesters want a transitional government in place prior to parliamentary and presidential elections due in 2027.

(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade and Angeliki Koutantou in Athens; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)