Serbia's Student List Wins Election, Ending Vučić's Majority
In Serbia's early parliamentary election, the Student List, born of almost two years of protests against President Aleksandar Vučić, won 53.48% of the vote and 141 of 250 seats. The ruling party took 39.65% and 103 seats.
The Student List, an opposition alliance that grew out of Serbia's student protest movement, has won the country's early parliamentary election. It took 53.48% of the vote and will hold 141 seats in the new 250-seat parliament. The Progressive Party of Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics for ten years, together with its allies received 39.65% and 103 seats. The result marks a change of power, though the foreign policy course of the incoming majority remains unclear.
Origins of the protests
The protests began in May 2023 after a massacre at a Belgrade school and gathered momentum in late 2024. On 1 November, the canopy of a recently renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city, collapsed, killing 16 people. Investigators found violations of safety requirements and irregularities in public procurement. Prosecutors charged 13 officials, including former minister Goran Vesić, but the trial has moved slowly and no conviction has taken effect. Charges against some defendants were reduced or dropped, which angered protesters.
The demands grew from an investigation into political ones: the resignation of the president and government and snap elections. Vučić accused protesters of trying to stage a "colour revolution" with foreign funding; the source article's author considers these claims unfounded. On 8 September, partly under pressure from Brussels, the president announced the dissolution of parliament and elections at the end of October. He also said he would step down as president and run for prime minister.
An election as a referendum
Experts treated the vote as a confidence ballot on Vučić. The Student List unites politically inexperienced figures from culture, science and medicine with differing views. Turnout was 68.94%, the highest since the end of the communist era. The Socialist Party won 2.18% and missed the 3% threshold, while the pro-European European Serbia got 0.29%.
An uncertain course
The Student List platform rejects recognising Kosovo's independence, joining EU sanctions against Russia, or cutting close economic ties with China. Analysts say EU supporters of the opposition may be disappointed. Support for EU membership in Serbia is falling and is below 50% in some polls.
