Serbia’s newly formed Student List movement secured an election victory in the parliamentary elections, winning 53% of the vote and capturing 140 of the 250 seats in the national assembly. The anti-corruption coalition defeated the Serbian Progressive Party of former president Aleksandar Vučić, ending his 14-year tenure in power.
How the Student Movement Overcame the Ruling Party
The student-led movement emerged in November 2024 after a concrete canopy collapsed at a renovated railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people including two children. Protesters alleged that the tragedy stemmed from endemic corruption and a lack of transparency in public contracts. Over nearly two years of mass demonstrations, the movement expanded to include various professions demanding institutional reform and the resignation of Aleksandar Vučić’s political establishment.
In the lead-up to the vote, the ruling party utilized several strategies to maintain power, according to The Conversation. The outlet noted that these tactics included vote buying, fraudulent registration of non-resident or deceased voters, multiple registrations, and ballot box stuffing, as documented by the Serbian election monitoring organisation CRTA. Despite these obstacles and attempts to suppress turnout—such as doubling the number of citizens registered to vote abroad compared to the previous election—the Student List achieved a turnout that marked the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, as reported by The Guardian.
Democracy Now! noted that former president Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat on television late Sunday after early results confirmed the Student List’s majority. The Serbian Progressive Party secured 104 seats, leaving them to form an opposition in the national assembly.
| Political Force | Popular Vote Share | Projected Assembly Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Student List Movement | 53.3% | 140 – 141 |
| Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Coalition | 39.7% | 104 – 103 |
What Institutional Reforms Are Planned First
Once the Electoral Commission announces official results, newly elected members of parliament will have 30 days to form a government, with an extension to 90 days if needed. Ivan Vejvoda, a Serbian political scientist and co-founder of the Europe’s Futures Initiative, told RTÉ News that the incoming government’s priorities involve bringing back the rule of law, abiding by the constitution, and reforming security services to dismantle what he described as a captured state.
The movement campaigned on the slogan “Serbia or the mafia,” pledging to establish independent police bodies to investigate corruption rather than routing cases through the interior ministry. Newly elected MP Jovo Bakić told the newspaper Danas that the state must sever all connections with organized crime.
Who Might Lead the Technocratic Cabinet
Before implementing reforms, the leaderless movement must decide which candidate from its ranks will serve as prime minister and nominate cabinet ministers. Nearly half of the movement’s 250 candidates come from academic or education-related backgrounds, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, and agricultural experts.
Three main figures have emerged as potential prime ministerial candidates. Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist and professor from Novi Sad, told Radio Free Europe that the Student List remains committed to European integration and aligning domestic policy with EU rule-of-law norms. He expressed support for continued dialogue with Kosovo while maintaining the movement’s stance opposing Kosovan independence. Another candidate is Dejan Šoškić, a former governor of the National Bank of Serbia who resigned in 2012 over legislation reducing the bank’s independence. If he does not secure the top post, he is considered a potential finance minister given his experience with the World Bank, the IMF, and the European Union. The third prominent figure is Dejan Bodiroga, a former professional basketball player.
The incoming administration plans to establish a technocratic government staffed by experts across economics, finance, engineering, and agriculture to fulfill its 11-point plan. However, political analysts note that reforming public institutions staffed by long-standing appointees remains a complex and extended challenge for the new administration.
