Serbia's Student-Led Movement Ousts Vučić in Historic Election Victory

Serbia’s Student List Secures Historic Parliamentary Majority

Serbia’s political landscape shifted dramatically following last Sunday’s parliamentary election, where the grassroots Student List movement secured an emphatic victory with 53% of the popular vote, defeating the party of former president Aleksandar Vučić. According to election results reported by rte.ie, the movement captured 140 out of 250 seats in the Serbian national assembly, far outperforming polls that had predicted a neck-and-neck race. Mr. Vučić and his United Serbia coalition finished with approximately 39% of the vote, securing 104 seats in opposition. Turnout reached a preliminary 68.78%, marking the highest participation rate in a parliamentary election over the past decade, as reported by Meduza.

The Two-Year Path From the Novi Sad Tragedy to the Ballot Box

The political uprising traces its roots back to November 2024, when a concrete canopy collapsed at a renovated railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people, including two children. Protesters immediately blamed endemic corruption, a lack of transparency in awarding public contracts, and the use of substandard building materials. As Garrett Patrick Kelly, a former UN diplomat and Sarajevo resident, explained to Newstalk’s The Pat Kenny Show, this disaster followed two earlier public movements regarding waterfront development and lithium mining that eventually lost momentum.

Serbia's Student-Led Movement Ousts Vučić in Historic Election Victory — Photo: PBS

“This third one, I think really, it pushed people over the edge,” Mr. Kelly told Newstalk, detailing how the government initially refused to release tender documents or disclose who received the contract. Despite facing police intervention and agent provocateurs, students sustained peaceful protests for two years until forcing the snap parliamentary election held on October 25, as noted by Meduza. During the demonstrations, film student Mia recounted to Newstalk her arrest outside the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, where officers pulled her hair to access her phone and retrieve recorded footage of the violence.

Immediate Reforms Facing the Incoming Technocratic Government

With official results pending from Serbia’s Electoral Commission, newly elected MPs face a strict 30-day constitutional window to form a government, which can be extended to 90 days if necessary. Ivan Vejvoda, co-founder of Europe’s Futures Initiative, told rte.ie that the incoming administration’s primary objective is “putting the house in order” by reforming the security services and judiciary. Describing the Vučić era as “a captured state where democracy had backslid,” the Student List campaigned under the banner of “Serbia or the mafia,” pledging to establish independent police bodies rather than routing corruption cases directly through the interior ministry.

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Public media reform is expected to move much faster than long-term judiciary restructuring. The state broadcaster, RTS, consistently towed a pro-SNS line and limited opposition airtime, a bias documented in a 2024 European Commission report cited by rte.ie. Following the vote, the Student List issued an open letter demanding the resignation of the network’s director-general and senior editorial staff. Simultaneously, a news anchor on regional public broadcaster RNS issued a live on-air apology, admitting the station had “remained silent, turned a blind eye, provided one-sided information, reported uncritically, failed to ask the right questions, or asked no questions at all.”

Unresolved Leadership Choices and Foreign Policy Pressures

Operating without a single central leader, the Student List relies on collective decision-making through debates and assemblies. Nearly half of its 250 candidates come from academic or educational backgrounds, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, and agricultural experts. Three primary figures have emerged as potential candidates for prime minister:

Serbia's student movement ousts longtime leader Vucic in parliament poll • FRANCE 24 English

Ilija Srdanović: A cardiologist and professor from Novi Sad who affirmed the movement’s commitment to European integration and aligning domestic policy with EU human rights standards.
Dejan Bodiroga: A former professional basketball player and prominent, highly recognizable figure within the movement.

Foreign policy challenges loom large for the incoming technocratic cabinet. While Mr. Srdanović expressed support for continuing dialogue with Kosovo, the Student List officially opposes Kosovan independence, viewing the territory as an integral part of Serbia. This stance places the incoming government on a potential collision course with the European Union, which has overseen stalled accession negotiations since 2014 due to rule-of-law deficits and tensions with Pristina. Additionally, outgoing leader Mr. Vučić claimed in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak, reported by Meduza, that a new government would implement sanctions against Russia within ten days of taking office—a claim directly contradicted by Student List representatives, including Aleksandar Baucal, who confirmed the movement maintains its principled opposition to restrictive measures against Moscow.