Student List Wins Serbia’s Parliamentary Elections

Serbia’s October 25 snap parliamentary election produced a major political turnover. Student List, a student-led protest movement converted into an electoral list, won about 53 percent of the popular vote. The result ended 14 years of rule by the Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, under Aleksandar Vučić.

Student List is on course to win at least 140 of the National Assembly’s 250 seats. The SNS-led United Serbia list received 39 percent and 103 seats. Six additional seats went to parties representing Hungarian, Albanian, and Bosniak minorities. The figures give Student List a comfortable majority.

Vučić conceded defeat and confirmed a peaceful transfer of power, despite earlier fears of voter intimidation and irregularities. Student List now has 90 days to form a government after parliament is established. Its rise began with protests over the deadly Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse and broader anger about corruption and state mismanagement.

Student List is not a conventional, centralized political party. It is a decentralized movement that began with university students protesting government accountability, corruption, and electoral reform. Its candidates are mostly political newcomers from academia and the nonprofit sector, and the movement lacks a single central leader.

The transformation followed the November 1, 2024, collapse of a newly renovated railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. Public anger over alleged corruption, poor management of development funds, and state negligence fueled large protests. When Vučić called snap elections for October 25 and resigned as president to run for prime minister, the movement converted itself into Student List.

Most other non-systemic opposition parties chose not to run independently. They supported Student List to improve its chances. This strategy allowed a broad protest movement to compete as one electoral force, even though it remained structurally and ideologically diverse.

Student List’s victory was large enough to provide a comfortable parliamentary majority. It won about 53 percent of the vote and is expected to secure at least 140 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly. That gives it more than the 126 seats needed for a majority.

The SNS-led United Serbia list received 39 percent and 103 seats. Compared with the previous election, the SNS-led Serbia Must Not Stop list fell from 47 percent and 129 seats in 2023. Student List therefore led by about 14 percentage points and at least 37 seats in the new assembly.

The remaining six seats went to parties representing Hungarian, Albanian, and Bosniak minorities. Student List’s numbers should make government formation easier than it would be for a fragmented opposition. However, its decentralized structure means that holding the coalition together may be as important as winning the vote.

The collapse of a newly renovated railway station canopy in Novi Sad became the trigger for Serbia’s largest political challenge to Vučić’s dominance. The disaster killed 16 people and generated immediate public outrage. Many people connected the tragedy to alleged systemic corruption and failures in state oversight.

University students organized a decentralized protest movement. They demanded political accountability and electoral reform, while demonstrations also criticized the management of public development funds and alleged government negligence. The protests drew hundreds of thousands of people through continuous rallies over the following two years, according to the article.

The movement gained enough momentum to enter electoral politics. After Vučić called snap elections, students created Student List, and most non-systemic opposition parties supported it. The election victory converted public anger over one disaster into a national political challenge, ending the SNS’s long dominance and putting institutional reform at the center of the new government’s agenda.

The Serbian Progressive Party remained dominant because it held major institutional advantages. During Vučić’s years in power, SNS expanded its influence over state institutions and media. It also used public resources to support election campaigns, weakening the ability of opponents to compete on equal terms.

The article also describes weakened checks on executive power, harassment and intimidation of opposition figures and independent media, and expanded corruption linked to the ruling elite. These conditions gave the governing party political reach beyond its formal electoral support. Vučić first became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017.

Opposition weakness reinforced this advantage. Before the student movement, Serbia’s opposition was highly fragmented, making it difficult to challenge SNS as one force. Vučić therefore consolidated and maintained political dominance. The Novi Sad disaster disrupted that pattern by uniting public anger around corruption, accountability, and institutional failure.

Student List’s main challenge is converting electoral success into coordinated executive power. It is a decentralized movement rather than a consolidated party, with diverse structures and ideologies. Most candidates are political newcomers, and the bloc did not campaign with a candidate for prime minister.

That structure may complicate decisions about leadership, cabinet appointments, and policy priorities. The movement must also keep different political and professional groups working together after the shared goal of defeating SNS has been achieved. Cardiologist and university professor Ilija Srdanovic is described as the favorite to lead the next government, but Student List has no established central leader.

Time adds pressure. The constitution allows 30 days to form parliament after final results are announced, while Student List has 90 days to form a government after parliament is established. Its absolute majority may ease the process, but governing will test whether a decentralized protest alliance can operate as a unified administration.

Parliamentary elections convert public votes into legislative seats, and the seat total determines who can form a government. A force with a majority can usually secure approval for its executive leadership and legislation. In Serbia, Student List is expected to hold at least 140 of 250 seats, giving it a strong basis for governing.

The process links the assembly to executive power. Student List must help form parliament, select a government, and organize ministers around its platform. Its stated priorities include fighting corruption, strengthening democratic institutions, and improving media independence, transparency, healthcare, education, and housing.

A government formed from that majority can also shape foreign policy. Student List is expected to maintain opposition to sanctions on Russia and support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity while seeking closer EU ties. A planned EU membership referendum and possible refusal to recognize Kosovo could complicate Serbia’s accession path.