Serbian voters choose student list over Vucic in historic election
Turnout hit a 30-year high as a youth-led group won 135 to 140 seats against the incumbent president's party.
By Layla Petrov ·
Aleksandar Vucic has lost his grip on Serbia's parliament after a student-led movement defeated his party in Sunday's snap elections. The Serbian Progressive Party, which Vucic has led for over a decade, conceded defeat to the Student List. Vucic told supporters that it was clear his side had lost the race.
Voter turnout reached its highest level in more than 30 years. The Student List is projected to win between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member assembly. The SNS is expected to take 105 seats. This marks a sharp decline for the ruling party.
The Student List emerged from a wave of social unrest that began after a tragedy in Novi Sad. On November 1, 2024, a train station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people. Youth-led protests followed and grew into a political platform. The group promised to tackle corruption and depoliticize public institutions.
Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, led the movement during the campaign. Vucic criticized the demonstrators, calling them blockaders. He accused them of trying to destabilize Serbia. The protest base included university professors, doctors, and workers.
Vucic, born in Belgrade in 1970, entered politics in 1993. He joined the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party led by Vojislav Seselj. In July 1995, nine days after the Srebrenica genocide, Vucic made a statement in parliament that remains widely remembered. He said, Kill one Serb, and we will kill 100 Muslims. The comment came during a debate on NATO strikes.
Seselj, who was Vucic's political mentor, was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in prison. The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals found him guilty of persecution and deportation during the Balkan wars. Aleksandar Seselj, Vojislav's son, ran on Vucic's electoral list in Sunday's vote.
After a split in the Radical Party, Vucic and Tomislav Nikolic founded the SNS in 2008. The new party aimed to move closer to mainstream European politics. Safeta Bisevac, a Serbian journalist, noted that Vucic was initially less popular than Nikolic. She described Vucic as the organizer of the party who lagged in popularity at the time.
The SNS took power in 2012 with a promise to fight corruption and organized crime. One high-profile case involved the arrest of businessman Miroslav Miskovic and his son Marko in December 2012. They were charged with financial irregularities and tax evasion. After years of legal proceedings, both were acquitted, and the state paid them compensation. Bisevac said the results of the anti-corruption drive remained modest while the authorities expanded control over institutions and media.
Vucic served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014 before becoming prime minister. He became president in 2017 and won re-election in 2022. His term was set to run until 2027. Under pressure from student protests, he resigned in September and called for early elections. Bisevac said he made many promises but fulfilled few, establishing almost complete control over the state apparatus in the meantime.
The Serbian economy has grown since 2012. Unemployment dropped from 26 percent to between 8 and 9 percent. Nominal gross domestic product nearly tripled to about 90 billion euros, or 101 billion dollars, according to official data. Annual foreign direct investment inflows rose from about 800 million euros in 2012 to a record 5.2 billion euros in 2024. A network of modern motorways was also built. However, rising wages have not always matched the rising cost of living and public debt. Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students gave a voice to the justified anger of citizens. He described the past decade as marked by systematic pressure and the destruction of social institutions.
