Serbian voters deliver Student List 135 to 140 seats in historic turnout

Serbian citizens cast ballots in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday that resulted in the highest voter turnout recorded in the country in more than 30 years. The vote effectively ended the political dominance of President Aleksandar Vucic, who led the nation for over a decade. Ordinary voters participated in a high-stakes contest that pitted the incumbent Serbian Progressive Party against a new student-led coalition.

The Student List is projected to secure between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member parliament. This outcome leaves the Serbian Progressive Party with an expected 105 seats. Vucic acknowledged the result after initial vote samples indicated his party had lost. He told supporters that the defeat was clear.

The Student List emerged from a specific tragedy that occurred on November 1, 2024, when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad. That incident killed 16 people. The event sparked a wave of social unrest led by university professors, doctors, and workers. The movement evolved into a formal political platform. Its central promises include tackling corruption, depoliticizing public institutions, and restoring citizens' rights.

Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, led the movement during the campaign. Vucic, who has served as president since 2017, referred to the demonstrators as blockaders. He accused the group of seeking to destabilize the country. Vucic resigned from his post in September under pressure from the protests and called for the early elections. His original term was set to run until 2027.

Vucic’s political career began in 1993 when he joined the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party. He later co-founded the Serbian Progressive Party in 2008 alongside Tomislav Nikolic. The new party aimed to align Serbia with mainstream European politics. Vucic served as prime minister from 2014 to 2017 before becoming president. He won re-election in 2022.

Serbian journalist Safeta Bisevac noted that Vucic was initially less popular than his party co-founder Nikolic. Bisevac stated that Vucic was essentially the organizer of the newly formed party. Since the party took power in 2012, it promised to fight corruption and organized crime. One high-profile case involved the 2012 arrest of businessman Miroslav Miskovic and his son Marko. Both were eventually acquitted, and the state paid them compensation.

Bisevac argued that the fight against corruption yielded modest results. She observed that authorities expanded their control over institutions and media. She described Vucic as establishing almost complete control over the state apparatus while fulfilling few of his initial promises. Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students gave voice to justified anger among citizens. He characterized the past decade as a period of systematic pressure and the destruction of social institutions.

Radosavljevic claimed that state intelligence services spent more time monitoring political opponents than performing their actual duties. He added that critical thinking was pushed out of public media. The economic context of the election includes notable growth since 2012. Unemployment dropped from 26 percent to between 8 and 9 percent. Nominal gross domestic product nearly tripled to approximately 90 billion euros.

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 constructed during this period. However, rising wages did not always lead to proportional improvements in living standards. The cost of living and public debt remained central issues in the debate over the government's economic record.

Vucic’s background includes a law degree from the University of Belgrade. He entered politics with a nationalist rhetoric that marked his 1990s career. In July 1995, he made a statement in parliament regarding NATO strikes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His mentor, Vojislav Seselj, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 for persecution and deportation of non-Serbs. Seselj’s son, Aleksandar, appeared on Vucic’s electoral list in the recent vote.