Late Sunday evening, hundreds of young men left the park between the presidential palace and the parliament in downtown Belgrade. They wore hoods and masks, as they did during the pandemic. The euphoric crowd around them shouted at them: “Where are you going? The party is still going on!“.
Just minutes earlier, Aleksandar Vucic had conceded defeat in the elections. The man who had ruled Serbia with a firm hand for more than 14 years had lost his power. And convincingly: the “Student List”, supported by the protest movement that has been shaking the country for two years, had collected about 53 percent of the vote. The coalition around Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), accustomed to convincing victories, received approximately 39 percent of the vote. No other list passed the three percent threshold. Only representatives of national minorities, for whom this threshold does not apply, also entered parliament.
Tensions on Election Day
During the election campaign and even on election day itself, there were constant reports of vote-buying and pressure on civil servants to vote for Vučić's party. For years, critics have accused him of corruption, fraud with large state contracts and almost complete control over the media. In the studio of the TV channel “Informer“, which has been Vučić's unofficial mouthpiece for many years, a festive mood reigned until the very last moment – before he conceded defeat.
“I feel amazing”, says Alexa, a man in his 40s who came out to celebrate the victory in front of the parliament. A young woman and a young man say they expected a victory, but not so decisive. And a visibly happy woman says she didn't expect Vucic to admit defeat so easily. However, she sees it as a good gesture on his part - to avoid clashes and riots.
Still, tension was in the air on election day. In several incidents, motorcyclists supporting the students were attacked, as well as other citizens. Since the evening, the park next to the parliament was filled with men in black. For almost two years, the place has served as a kind of rallying point for Vucic's supporters. From there, they have repeatedly attacked supporters of the “Student List”.
In the end, Vučić congratulated the students, but also repeated his accusation that they were destroying the state and were “performers of dirty deeds invented by someone else”. Vučić is already behaving like a person who is about to enter the opposition. If it were up to the winners of the elections, however, Vučić's place should not be in the opposition, but in the dock.
Ideologically diverse list
The list of winning students includes, in addition to activists, respected professors. It includes people who see Serbia in the European Union (EU), but also those who are closer to Russia. Left and right, socially progressive and conservative. What unites them is the desire to return Serbia to the rule of law.
The student uprising began after the canopy of the recently renovated train station in Novi Sad, the country's second largest city, collapsed in late 2024. Sixteen people died. It quickly emerged that there had been apparent corruption in the station's renovations - the awarding of construction contracts and the role of subcontractors raised questions about transparency and possible links to power. In addition, the authorities may have ignored warnings about safety deficiencies.
“Corruption kills!“, was one of the slogans of the student protests. For two years, the students toured Serbia, talking to people and organizing some of the largest protests in the country's history.
However, the real work is yet to come, philosopher and political commentator Ivan Milenkovic tells DW. “This requires a certain amount of determination. Because keeping power is harder than winning it. You have to cut off all the tentacles of the octopus, but you also have to respect the laws. Only the laws guarantee that Serbia has a chance,” he points out.
How long will the "Student List" remain united?
On election night, no one was still thinking about tomorrow. And Serbia has a number of important questions to decide: what course will it take towards the European Union, Russia and Kosovo? How much will the existing power apparatus hinder it? What freedom of action will there be while the cities and municipalities remain in the hands of the Serbian Progressive Party? Against this background, many are wondering how long the “Student List“ with its diverse political currents will be able to remain united. And what will it really be able to achieve?
It is still unclear who will lead the new Serbian government. However, the name of Dejan Soskic, a former governor of the Central Bank and professor of economics, is often mentioned. A new president is also due to be elected by the end of the year. Vucic recently stepped down from office to run in these parliamentary elections and become prime minister. After these parliamentary elections, no one doubts that the students will also win the presidential elections. That much is certain.
Source: www.dw.com