Student-Led List Wins Serbia's Snap Election, Ending Vucic Era

A student-led opposition movement has won Serbia's snap parliamentary election, bringing an end to the long hold on power of former President Aleksandar Vucic. The Student List's victory on Sunday came after almost two years of protests led by young people.

Those demonstrations began after 16 people died in 2024 when a canopy collapsed at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad. Calls for accountability grew into a broader political campaign against alleged corruption and the capture of democratic institutions.

The Republic Election Commission (RIK) said on Monday that the Student List had taken 52.54 percent of the vote, based on 8,077 of 8,392 polling stations processed. The United Serbia list, headed by Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, had 39.29 percent. Turnout reached 68.78 percent, which RIK data showed to be a record high in more than 30 years.

Final results are still pending, but the figures indicate the Student List can form a majority in the 250-seat parliament without partners. It is projected to win 140 seats, well above the 126 needed, while United Serbia is expected to hold 103. The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians is set to receive three seats, the Albanian political bloc two, and the Rasim Ljajc-Ljudski and SDA Sandzak lists one each.

The movement's September programme named the fight against corruption and organised crime among its main priorities. It also promised higher living standards, more jobs, better education, media freedom and independent institutions. After declaring victory, the group said it would work to improve relations with neighbouring countries, which grew tense during Vucic's rule of more than a decade.

Who will become prime minister is not yet settled. United Serbia named Vucic as its candidate before the vote, but the Student List announced no such choice. It has deliberately avoided putting forward single figures, stressing the collective character of a movement that united academics, doctors and workers. Ilija Srdanovic, a cardiologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Novi Sad, led the campaign and is now seen as the most likely choice. It is unclear who will run key ministries such as internal affairs, finance and justice.

The timing of the new government depends on when final results are announced and parliament meets. The new National Assembly must be constituted within 30 days of the final results, and a government must then be formed within 90 days. With a clear majority, the Student List does not face lengthy coalition negotiations.

The presidency is also in transition. Vucic, who dominated Serbian politics from 2014 as prime minister and then president, called the snap vote last month and resigned as president on September 27. Ana Brnabic, president of the National Assembly, is serving as acting head of state. She must call an extraordinary presidential election within three months of the end of Vucic's mandate, meaning by December 27. Serbian citizens elect the president directly, though the office is largely ceremonial.