Serbia's Student List Sweeps Election

Aleksandar Vucic has stepped down from the top of Serbian politics after his party lost Sunday’s snap parliamentary vote to a student-led coalition. The former president conceded defeat after exit polls indicated his Serbian Progressive Party would secure only 105 of the 250 available seats. The Student List, a platform built on a two-year protest movement, is projected to take between 135 and 140 seats.

Voter turnout in the election hit its highest point in more than 30 years. Vucic addressed his supporters after the preliminary counts, stating plainly that the outcome was clear. His concession ends a political career that spanned more than a decade at the center of Serbian state power.

The student movement originated in November 2024 following a construction failure in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. What began as a specific grievance against safety standards evolved into a wide-ranging demand for anti-corruption measures and the depoliticization of public institutions. Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, served as the public face of the campaign.

Vucic had characterized the demonstrators as “blockaders” who sought to destabilize the country. He had maintained a pragmatic foreign policy stance, balancing relationships with the European Union, Russia, China, and Israel. His domestic record included a major push for infrastructure, including a new network of motorways, and a rise in foreign direct investment from 800 million euros in 2012 to 5.2 billion euros in 2024.

Despite economic growth, critics argue that living standards did not improve in line with wages. The government also expanded control over media and state institutions. Safeta Bisevac, a journalist who has covered Vucic for years, noted that the leader established near-total command over the state apparatus while fulfilling few of his initial campaign promises to fight corruption.

Vucic resigned in September under pressure from the protests and called for early elections. His term as president was originally scheduled to continue until 2027. Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic described the student victory as a channel for justified public anger. He argued that state intelligence services had focused more on monitoring political opponents than on their core security duties.