Student-led coalition defeats Vučić in Serbian snap election
The Students' List, an opposition coalition born from student-led protests, won Serbia's parliamentary election on 25 October, defeating Aleksandar Vučić after his fourteen-year dominance of Serbian politics. Vučić, who stepped down as president in September, conceded defeat and projected the Students' List would gain 135–140 of the 250 parliamentary seats, compared to approximately 105 for his bloc.
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Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics for more than fourteen years, conceded defeat on Sunday evening to the Students' List, an opposition coalition that emerged from student-led protests triggered by the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in 2024. The collapse killed sixteen people and exposed allegations of corruption involving a Chinese-built infrastructure project.
Vučić told reporters that the Students' List was projected to secure between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly, whilst his own bloc would win approximately 105 seats. Ilija Srdanović, the coalition's leading candidate, stated that the new government would focus on establishing the rule of law and state reform.
Vučić had resigned from the presidency in late September after being constitutionally barred from a third term, hoping the snap election would enable him to become prime minister instead. His defeat represents a significant shift in Serbian politics. Throughout his long rule, Vučić had repositioned himself from an ultranationalist into a self-styled reformer, advocating for European Union membership whilst maintaining strong diplomatic ties with Russia and China. The election result is expected to influence Serbia's foreign policy balance and potentially accelerate its stalled EU accession process.
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