Serbia’s Student List Secures 141 Seats to End Vučić’s 14-Year Rule

Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat late on Sunday, ending his 14-year hold on Serbian politics. The former president lost to the Student List, a movement that won 53% of the vote and 141 seats in the 250-seat parliament. Vučić’s Serbian Progressive party (SNS) captured 39% of the vote and 103 seats.

The election result concludes two years of anti-government protests. Those demonstrations began after a canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station, killing 16 people. Supporters of the Student List took to the streets in Belgrade and other cities on Monday to celebrate the landslide victory.

The movement has no single leader or hierarchy. It operates through collective decision-making. Prominent figures include Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist who headed the candidate list, and Dejan Šoškić, a former central bank governor. Radomir Saičić, a chemistry professor at Belgrade University, spoke on behalf of the group after the win. It remains unclear who will be appointed prime minister or fill cabinet posts.

Ana Mirković, a university educationist and candidate, stated that the movement sees the result as taking on a historic debt rather than gaining privileges. She said the first priority is the social and psychological detoxification of the country. The platform pledges to fight corruption and restore the rule of law. It plans to create an independent police unit accountable to prosecutors and purge officers linked to organized crime.

The Student List aims to ban party loyalists from state-owned companies. It also seeks to create independent bodies to scrutinize major state infrastructure contracts. Mirković said the goal is to dismantle a system of intimidation and open up the media. She added that the aim is to rebuild society from the ground up by depoliticizing the judiciary and renewing education and healthcare systems.

The movement kept foreign policy issues in the background. The Kremlin said on Monday it hoped the new leaders understand that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests. Vučić blamed his defeat on support from European countries and the US deep state. International leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, welcomed the victory.

Serbia’s constitution requires the new parliament to convene within 30 days of the official result. It sets a 90-day deadline after that for forming the new government. The country must also hold new presidential elections before 27 December. Vučić stepped down to run for prime minister in the recent election.