Student-backed election winners demand sweeping resignations in Serbia

The Student List won Serbia's election after a movement led by university students helped end the rule of Aleksandar Vučić's party. Its newly elected MPs want a rapid political reset. They argue that institutions must stop serving political interests and begin enforcing the law fairly. Their demands cover police, intelligence, anti-terror structures, the judiciary and influential state-linked media.

The MPs called for the dismissal of police officers who had broken the law. They specifically named the heads of the police, the BIA security agency and the anti-terror unit. The purge has also reached state broadcaster RTS, whose director, Manja Grčić, resigned. The MPs are targeting Telekom Srbija's head as well.

The movement grew after 16 people died in the 2024 Novi Sad station canopy collapse. Its plan promises to investigate corruption, recover stolen public assets and strengthen institutions. Critics warn against political revenge, while supporters say reforms must begin quickly.

The proposed reshuffle reaches several pillars of Serbia's state. Student List MPs demanded action against police officers who broke the law and singled out the police leadership, the BIA security agency and the anti-terror unit. The article also identifies senior judicial officials and powerful state-media managers as targets. RTS director Manja Grčić has already stepped down, and the MPs want to replace Telekom Srbija's head, Vladimir Lučić.

The students' concern is timing. Although Vučić admitted defeat, the transfer of power will take weeks. During that interval, officials who may face investigation could still control records, agencies or information. The movement fears that evidence of possible wrongdoing might be destroyed before the new administration arrives.

This makes the transition especially sensitive. Supporters call for accountability and institutional repair. Ana Brnabić, a Vučić loyalist and acting president, says opponents risk replacing the rule of law with revolutionary justice. The new government must therefore preserve evidence while avoiding automatic punishment.

In the article, lustration means banning members of the Vučić government or party apparatus from public office if they are found to have violated Serbian citizens' rights. It is presented as a way to prevent people linked to serious abuses from continuing to wield state power. Dejan Šoškić wants a lustration law introduced within the new government's first six months.

Prosecuting an individual is different. A criminal case examines a specific alleged offence, such as corruption or unlawful conduct. It requires evidence, formal charges and a legal process that can end in conviction or acquittal. Lustration instead asks whether someone should be trusted with public office, even when the conduct may not produce a criminal conviction.

That distinction matters during a political transition. A carefully designed law could remove rights-abusing officials from power while protecting due process. A broad purge based only on party membership would risk the “revolutionary justice” criticised by Ana Brnabić and could weaken the rule of law.

The scale is unusually large because the Student List is not simply replacing one party leader. All 141 successful candidates were selected by students from universities across Serbia. They include intellectuals, professors, artists, athletes and as many as 12 medical doctors and surgeons. The article describes the winners as newcomers to politics, but it does not give an exact number who had no previous political experience.

The movement's programme is also unusually detailed. Its Student Plan runs to 1,200 pages. It promises to halt plunder, return stolen goods to the state budget and invest directly in education and the economy. Radomir Saičić says the new MPs will follow that plan while developing practical mechanisms as they govern.

This creates both opportunity and risk. A large, diverse group can bring expertise from outside party politics. But the MPs have no obvious leader and must turn a student-designed programme into workable government. They also face difficult institutional reforms and Serbia's foreign-policy balance between the EU and Russia.

The student movement emerged after a railway-station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024. The disaster killed 16 people in Serbia's second-largest town. Students wanted those responsible brought to justice and demanded an investigation into widespread corruption claims connected to one of the country's most tragic recent events.

Those demands became the movement's central mechanism. Protests linked public safety to political accountability. Students challenged the institutions they believed had allowed corruption or wrongdoing to go unexamined. They then created a political plan, selected candidates from universities across Serbia and backed the Student List in the election.

The result was a change in government. Voters ousted Aleksandar Vučić's party, and he admitted defeat on Sunday night. The new MPs now intend to investigate wrongdoing, reform institutions and address media freedom. The transition is not complete, however. Power will take weeks to transfer, and the movement fears evidence could disappear before new officials take control.

Rapid replacement could help the new government secure evidence, end political interference and begin reforms quickly. The Student List wants institutions to operate according to law, media to become freer and corruption to be confronted. Removing officials who broke the law could signal that public office no longer protects misconduct.

The danger is institutional disruption. Police, intelligence services, courts and public broadcasters hold specialised knowledge and perform continuous work. Mass dismissals without individual findings could remove capable staff along with abusive ones. They could also encourage retaliation, weaken investigations or make critics' accusation of “revolutionary justice” appear credible. The article does not establish that every targeted official committed wrongdoing.

Strahinja Subotić warns that the purge will take time because Vučić and his party controlled Serbia's main pillars of authority for years. He says the new administration must build bridges to segments that worked well. Reform therefore requires accountability, evidence and continuity, not automatic replacement based on loyalty alone.

The rule of law means that public authorities must act under established laws, not personal commands or party power. It protects citizens by requiring rules to apply consistently. It also limits a new government: winning an election does not make every target guilty, and political loyalty alone cannot prove wrongdoing.

Independent institutions are essential because police investigate, prosecutors pursue cases, courts decide them and media inform the public. Evidence-based accountability asks what a particular official did. Due process gives that person notice, a chance to respond and a decision made through lawful procedures. These safeguards separate justice from revenge, even during a major political transition.

This issue is central to Serbia's new government. Student List MP Dejan Šoškić wants institutions to operate according to law, while Ana Brnabić warns against revolutionary justice. The students' proposed lustration law could address rights violations, but it must avoid collective punishment. Independent investigations and preserved evidence will determine whether reform strengthens democracy.