Student List Secures 140 Seats to End Vucic's 12-Year Grip on Serbia

Serbia’s political landscape shifted decisively on Monday when the Republic Election Commission, or RIK, confirmed that the Student List won 52.54 percent of the vote. The result ends the 12-year political dominance of Aleksandar Vucic, who had controlled the country’s government since 2014.

Based on data from 8,077 processed polling stations out of 8,392 total, the Student List is projected to claim 140 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly. This tally places the bloc 14 seats above the 126 required for a simple majority. The United Serbia list, led by Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, finished second with 39.29 percent of the ballots, securing an expected 103 seats.

Remaining seats are allocated to minority representatives: the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians will take three seats, the Albanian political bloc two, and the Rasim Ljajc-Ljudski and SDA Sandzak lists one seat each. RIK reported that voter turnout reached 68.78 percent, marking the highest participation rate in over three decades.

The Student List’s campaign centered on a platform of anti-corruption, improved living standards, and institutional independence. The movement emerged from nearly two years of youth-led protests that began in 2024 after a railway station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. What started as demands for accountability for that disaster evolved into a nationwide challenge to the established political order.

Unlike the United Serbia list, which formally nominated Vucic as its prime ministerial candidate before the vote, the Student List has not named a specific successor. The group has emphasized a collective leadership structure involving academics, doctors, and workers. Ilija Srdanovic, a cardiologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Novi Sad, led the campaign and is currently viewed as the frontrunner for the premiership. However, the identities of candidates for key portfolios, including internal affairs, finance, and justice, have not yet been announced.

The path to a new government is procedural rather than political, as the Student List’s majority eliminates the need for coalition negotiations. The new National Assembly must be established within 30 days of the final election results being announced. A new government must be formed within 90 days of that assembly’s establishment.

Vucic resigned as president on September 27 following the call for the snap parliamentary election. The presidency is currently held temporarily by Ana Brnabic, the president of the National Assembly. Brnabic is required to call an extraordinary presidential election. That vote must take place no later than three months after Vucic’s mandate ended, setting a deadline of December 27 for a new head of state to be elected.

The presidential post in Serbia is largely ceremonial, with the prime minister holding the primary executive authority. The Student List stated on Sunday that it intends to improve relations with neighboring countries, reversing a period of tension that characterized much of Vucic’s tenure.